Same Diff
by Irish Rage And Love
Summary: This is yet ANOTHER alternate ending fic, but trust me. This is different. The last 6 books are different. THE FINAL CHAPTER, AFTER MUCH ADO, IS UP! Sorry about the long wait and short finale. After you finish, think about the title.
1. Marco

**Disclaimer**: Nope. I'm not K. A. Though some things are from her books.

**Intro**: I guess if you're reading this, you're slightly interested in this story. Good. We're starting at the last words of #54. Then we're back at the life-changing meeting in book 49. Have fun.

**Marco**

I heard Jake say, "Full emergency power to the engines. Ram the Blade ship."

_Bloop___

"There's another option," Jake said. "We can get inside, find out what they-."

Something hit me. "Wait a minute. Infiltrate? Just get inside and snoop around?" I gave Jake a knowing look. "You know we will get in a fight. What then?"

Jake started to answer, but it dawned on him too. The others were not so quick.

"Oh, come ON! We can take the Yeerks! We aren't gonna go just because Marco's a big baby?" Rachel glared at me. "You might not have much to lose, but if they find the rest of us, …" She let it hang.

"We can't go because if it comes down to a fight, one of us will get hurt. And when one gets hurt, one bleeds. Guess what? The Yeerks will scoop up that oh so convenient blood and within hours we'll all be Controllers."

I let that sink in. Then Jake raised his hands.

"Alright, alright, we obviously can't risk it. Let's all just go home and sit this one out." He grinned. "Maybe we can finally relax."

I raised my hand like I had a question. Jake nodded at me.

I stood up and in my best little kid voice said, "I'm s'post to ask all of you to come and donate blood to help the Red Cross." I grinned. It was a joke.

No one laughed.

Jake just sighed and shook his head.

**Ellimist**

It was my turn. And I made my move.

So did Crayak.

Strike and counter-strike.

Cause and effect.

Action and reaction. And thus it will always be.


	2. Tobias

**Disclaimer:** I don't own themyet….hehe.

**Authors note:** Hehe. Sorry. That last chapter must have been confusing. Let me give you a synopsis…free of charge!

_Same Diff begins as Jake and the crew of the Rachel is preparing to ram the Blade Ship aannnndd..._Bloop_ (sound effect). Thanks to the Ellimist, the regular gang is back in book 49 and decide NOT to infiltrate the blood bank (if you haven't read book 49, I suggest you quietly click that little X in the upper-right hand corner and proceed to your local library). But, Crayak also gets to do something..._

Alright! Now, let's get back to the story.

**Tobias**

Hi. My name is Tobias.

And I can't tell you…wait. Wait a minute.

Can you hold on a second? I have to go get lunch. I'm in the mood for an order of McMouse. With a side of McOtherVariousRodents. Or something like that. And I just saw some movement.

I did a quick turn and went into a dive.

I was a missile! Or maybe a bullet. That mouse had no chance. No chance. I was only fifty feet away. Twenty! I flared my wings and….snatch! Aha!

Okay, maybe I shouldn't be proud of that. But you know, a hawks gotta eat.

With my hawk body full, I turned toward Ax's scoop. The others, with the exception of Marco, were in school and we had nothing planned so I figured I would watch TV with him for a while. We do it a lot. I often have to interpret human media and explain some things to him. Like how 'These Messages' is not a program.

I landed in a nearby tree and Ax turned his head, while keeping his stalk eyes on his television, and gave me one of those Andalite smiles. You know. With just the eyes.

Okay, maybe you don't know.

Marco, on the other hand, was too busy being pitiful to notice my arrival. He also seemed a little mad.

"Freakin' nothing on! Absolutely FREAKIN' NOTHING!"

Maybe just a little.

(I suggest you adjust the frequency to pick up the program "Gilligans Island". Gilligan and his fellow shipmates could simply build a distress signal from the wreckage of their seacraft, but they don't and that is why this show is humorous. Ha ha ha ha. Ha.)

We just stared at Ax. I snickered and Marco shot me a death glare, muttered something about how it's so funny when you aren't married to the Ax-man, and continued sulking.

"Freakin' nothing on," he muttered, sinking lower in his chair.

But then he sat straight up. Turned the television off. Glanced at their computer, which had a Z-space device attached to it, and turned back to me and Ax. There was surprise and excitement in his eyes.

"Did you guys hear that?"

(Oh yeah. Hurry, turn the volume up.)

As soon as the volume was adjusted the machine buzzed to life again.

_Bzzssmmm...The Council...-ser One...bzzp_

We all strained closer to hear it. Ax touched a dial very gently.

_Bzzzppp...Council of Thirtee-...approves of Visser One's plan and urg-...-im to commence._

"Oh…" Marco began. Ax finished Marco's sentence with a word he picked up while on Earth.

(Let's be rational guys,) I said. (Let's not jump to conclusions. It could be another one of his crazy schemes. If it's all out war, we would have heard something from the Chee.)

"Well, whatever it is, I'm going to relax a bit longer before getting myself killed." Marco sat back in his chair and turned the TV back on.

"This just in. Some kind of…of…umm, some kind of alien-looking thing is…wait there's more of 'em! They are herding people into-."

TSSSEEEEEEWWWW!

The reporter for Channel 9 sizzled and disappeared.

I must have looked weird, a hawk with his jaw dropped.

"Just not my FREAKIN' DAY!"

**Authors note:** Alright. Thanks for reading so far. Please tell me what you think. If you are confused. I hope this chapter was a little more easy to understand. I am SO sorry about the thought-speak marks. I saved it as a web page and everything, but they just won't work. I might cry. Please, any advice you might have, pleasereview and tell me.


	3. Jake

**Disclaimer:** Don't look at me. I don't own them.

**Jake**

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood. I informed Rachel as such.

She gave me a fishy look and informed me that I was spending way too much time around Marco. She also informed me that if I made another bad joke she would go grizzly on my butt.

I grinned. It really was a beautiful day. Especially since we got out of school early for some unknown reason. My cousin and I just got off the bus and were heading home when….

WHOOOOSH!

Something flew low and extremely fast over our heads. I barely got a glimpse of it before it disappeared over the forest.

"Was that a Bug fighter?" Rachel asked. She was putting her hair back in place and looking around like she expected Visser One to park his Blade Ship on the street and charge out with Dracon beams blasting.

I thought it was one too. I couldn't be sure though. It was moving way too fast. I was suddenly overcome with the sense that something was wrong. I glanced back at the city.

The sun was glinting off several things flying over the city. Oh yeah. Something was definitely wrong.

"Rachel, go home and prepare to leave." This might be it. This might…

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what? Prepare to leave? You don't think that it's _him_, do you?"

I knew who she was talking about. "Yeah, I do. But don't leave until I tell you to." I felt sick. We might have to leave our lives behind. I didn't want to order that.

She started jogging home. I was almost at my house. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing on end. If this was a Yeerk attack, then my brother….my parents…

I opened the door carefully, as if I were trying to sneak in.

"Mom? Dad?" I gulped. "Tom?"

"In here, honey. Your father went to pick Tom up. They should be here any minute." Good, my mom was safe.

But my dad? With Tom? I felt like I had swallowed a lung.

"Mom? Do we…umm…have anything planned?" I had to ask. To make sure we were all going to be here when Tom got back. Because we might have to leave.

And I was NOT going to leave anybody behind.

"Yeah. As soon as Tom gets back he's taking us to a family meeting at the Sharing. He told me not to go any where until he gets back."

What was I going to do? I had to do something! I had to…

"Hey Mom! Hey midget. Sit down, sit down, I have something to tell you all."

My brother…the Yeerk…just walked in. He was followed by my dad, who had a weary look on his face.

"He's been talking about something 'important' and 'life-changing' all the way home. Let's just humor him and be on our way." A smile crossed his lips.

Yeah, Dad, it's called a Yeerk. They wrap their filthy little bodies around your brain and take complete control of your body. And they'll be doing it soon if Tom gets his way.

Tom motioned for us all to sit down at the table. We did. He took out a small box with a button and light on it. He pushed the button. The light was red for a second or two before turning green.

"This is a rather more effective than I thought it would be, considering I made it using human technology. I took it as a challenge." He smiled, but it wasn't Tom. It was the Yeerk. He made no attempt to hide his contempt for us.

My parents exchanged looks, then both stared at Tom like he was crazy.

DIIINNG, DOONNG.

Tom gave me a sharp look because I jumped about a foot in the air. He raised an eyebrow, then laughed at his very human expression.

"I'll get it," my mom said. She got up and went to the door.

Tom was still staring at me. Like I was a puzzle but he didn't just understand me. Like there was something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Surprise, Yeerk.

"AAAIIIIIEEEEEEEEE-." My mom!

(Jake? Jake? This is Tobias. There's a Hork-Bajir at your door! He's heading inside! Oh man, get out now! Me, Ax, and Marco will distract him.)

I had just enough time to wonder why they were in the area when a Hork-Bajir, dragging my fainted mother into the dining room, pointed a Dracon beam at me and my father before addressing Tom.

"The sub-visser is heading further down the street. Do you have this under control?" His guttural speech and reeking breath visibly shook my father.

"Yeah, tell him I will personally take these three to the pool." Without any more from Tom, the Hork-Bajir turned and went back outside. I heard the cry of a hawk outside.

Tom leaped! He pinned me against the wall and slammed a fist into my gut! I was reeling, I felt like I was going to puke, but he pulled me upright.

"I just don't understand you, human! The female fainted, that one," he nodded towards Dad, "is shaking uncontrollably, but you! You just look angry! No surprise, no fear in your eyes, just anger!" He punched me again, this time letting me fall to the floor.

I started to get up, looked through the door-side window, and saw a gorilla standing outside. He grinned. I nodded.

And started to go tiger.

Tom just stared. His utter hatred turned into fear. He ran to the door.

(Tobias? Hurry and warn Rachel and Cassie. Tell them to get out as fast as they can! Marco, get my mom and dad to the Hork-Bajir colony, quick!) Tom was out cold, courtesy of Big Jim. (I'll help Ax hold them off.)

I leaped outside. I saw Marco putting my parents in my dad's sedan. He threw Tom, now hog-tied, in the trunk. He almost ripped the driver-side door off before demorphing.

I turned away. My parents were safe. I saw Tobias flying off, and heard my little cousin Sara squealing as Ax pushed her into Rachel's mom's minivan.

Five Hork-Bajir and a dozen human-Controllers rushed Ax! One of the humans grabbed Rachel, but within seconds he was on his knees, clutching his…area. Rachel started to go grizzly. Her mom was just staring.

(Go! If you want to live just go!) I addressed my aunt. (You too, Rachel. She needs a guide to the colony. We'll hold them off!) I had just finished my sentence when I pounced, landing on the back of a Hork-Bajir. I dug my claws in and landed in between the Yeerks and Rachel's family, now fully human. She climbed in the van and they pulled out.

FWWAAAPP! FWWAAAPP! FWWAAAPP!

Ax struck left and right, leaving behind a grisly pile of severed heads and limbs. He then turned and started to run.

(If we do not leave now, Prince Jake, we could be overrun and killed,) Ax said, annoyingly calm. I let loose a roar that would make even tough men wet themselves, turned tail and ran. We easily outstripped the Yeerks and went behind a house to morph birds. As I started to go peregrine falcon, Ax was already in the air and flapping low. He was followed by several Dracon beams.

I finished my morph and headed to Cassie's farm. I had to dodge only a few Dracon beams before getting out of their line of fire. I caught a thermal and rose, higher and higher. Within a minute, I was near her house and saw a pickup truck pulling out and heading into the woods.

(Jake? Is that you?)

I saw a red-tailed hawk several hundred feet above me. (Yeah. My family and Rachel's got out okay. How about over here?)

(The Yeerk's haven't got this far yet. Umm, Jake? Where's Tom?

He's with Marco. Within a few days, he'll be just Tom.)

(Good.)

(Yeah. Good.) All-out war? I felt sick and elated all at once.

**Note:** Okay, about that box with a button and light on it. Basically, it was a signal for the sub-visser in charge of the neighborhood to send a Hork-Bajir to the house. In case you were confused about that. And if you don't know who Big Jim is, he's the gorilla that Marco morphed. Read the first book and you'll understand.


	4. Rachel

**Rachel**

We were all alive.

Everybody. My mom and my two sisters, Sara and Jordan. Cassie's parents, Michelle and Walter. Marco's parents, Eva and Peter, were leading the adults into an abandoned cave near the back of the Hork-Bajir valley. Jean and Steve, Jake's parents and my aunt and uncle, were already back there.

I broke of from the group. I had a job to do. I went to the next cave over and smiled, seeing our captive.

Tom. My cousin. Jake's big brother. A Controller since the beginning of the war.

He tried to spit, but couldn't because he was gagged. Tried to kick, but was tied to the chair. My grin widened, then I started to laugh. I wanted this as much as Jake did. I didn't like the idea of one of my relatives controlled by a Yeerk.

I leaned against the side of the cave, arms crossed. "How long has it been, Yeerk? How long until you shrivel away and die? I'll be counting, Yeerk." I smiled. He shot me a death glare.

I overheard pieces of the briefing one cave over.

"-they crawl in your ear and take total-"

"-we've been fighting them with our only power. Morphing."

I heard Jake retell the story of this long war. The story of our fight. I was glad he was telling our parents. I wanted them to know. There would be no more lying. No more sneaking around behind their backs.

Then I heard my mom, very clearly. "Why should we believe you? You're my nephew and I love you Jake, but kidnapped us! You say we're living in a Hark-Badger colony, but I haven't seen any of them yet. This sounds like a really bad joke!"

Jake asked her to explain seeing her daughter (that's me) turn into a bear.

She started to answer, but Steve cut her off. "Whether this is a joke or not, I want to know where Tom is."

Tom looked like he had an idea. I sneered. "They aren't gonna believe you. Even if they do, we'll never let you leave the colony."

"MM HMM GMMM DMM!" I smiled just to make him mad.

"Tom? Tom!" Jake's dad ran past me and went over to Tom. Tom's Yeerk put a convincing scared look on his face as Steve started to tug at the ropes that tied Tom to the chair.

"Why is he tied up?" He looked at me. "Did you do this, Rachel?"

I looked at Jake. "Did you tell them about Tom?" He shook his head. I tried to pull Steve away from Tom. Jake continued talking.

"I told you about what the Yeerks do and how they do it. I didn't tell you that Tom is one of them."

His dad shook his head vigorously. "No. No. We would've known. They can't just do that and not have us notice."

"That's exactly what they did, Dad. But don't worry - within three days Tom will be himself again."

Steve had stepped away, but had also removed Tom's gag.

"Dad! Dad, what are they doing! Are you going to believe them! They're crazy!" Tom was going nuts.

Jake just smiled. "Ax, you can demorph now."

"Yes, Prince Jake." The strangely handsome kid who had stayed in the back started to turn blue and sprout hair all over his body.

"AHHH!", "WHAT IS THAT THING!" and various other shouts resounded through the cave. Ax finished demorphing.

"Everybody? This is-."

"ANDALITE FILTH!" Everybody stared at Tom. His face was twitching.

Jake moaned and turned to Ax. "Is it dying?" He looked back at Tom, who was taking control of his body every few seconds.

(I believe so, Prince Jake)

Jake immediately ran to his brother's side. Tom was groaning and rolling his head around in circles. This was it. Tom is finally going to be free.

"AARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!" Something started to crawl out of Tom's ear. All of the adults stared, mouths gaping. Jake grabbed the Yeerk and flung it to the ground. Eva calmly walked over to Tom.

"It's going to be okay. It's dead now."

Tom's eyes fluttered open, then closed again. Jake looked horrified.

Eva smiled calmly. "He's fine. He's just very tired." She stood up and went to stand by her husband.

Jake stood up, his eyes on the ground. When he looked up, I saw a new fierceness in his eyes. In Jake's eyes, he had won already. He had won the war.

"Alright, everybody, try and get some sleep. We all have a big day tomorrow." The adults were too stunned to argue. They wandered off to thelog cabinsthat the Hork-Bajir had helped build. The Animorphs gathered around Tom, whom Jake was untying.

"What now, fearless leader?" Marco grinned like a madman, happy that Tom was free. Jake just laughed.

"One thing at a time, man. One thing at a time."

**Note:** I hope you liked this chapter. I always liked Tom and wanted him to be free. Thank you all for reviewing. An answer to the question by SilverHawk…yes, Tobias will still meet his mom. Later in the story. Review and ask questions, or just tell me what you thought of it.


	5. Ax

**Note:** This is chapter five. Before we continue, I would like to respond to Elwing's review.

You were correct with the parent's jobs. But I got the parents names from book # 50, on pages twelve and thirty-two. Apparently, the television show has different names for them. Probably because at the time of the TV series, K. A. didn't have names for the parents. Given freedom with this, the TV series came up with their own names, names that K. A. didn't particularly like. But that's just a theory. Anyway, according to the books, the names of the parents are:

Cassie: Michelle and Walter

Rachel: Naomi and Dan (he lives out of state)

Jake: Jean and Steve

Marco: Eva and Peter

Tobias: Loren and the late Elfangor

Ax: Noorlin-Sirinial-Cooraf (his father) and Forley-Esgarrouth-Maheen (his mother)

Thanks for the reviews! On to the story!

**Ax**

TH-THUMMP! TH-THUMMP! THUNNK!

"Alright!" Tom had successfully placed the orange sphere through a circle hanging horizontally from the side of the cave. He recovered it and sent flying through the air to Prince Jake, who threw it in a high arc so that it sailed cleanly through the circle.

They were attempting to teach me how to play basketball. Prince Jake bounced the ball to me. I clumsily grabbed it and turned. Threw it through the air. It fell short.

But Tom ran and caught it in midair. Turned and slammed it down through the "hoop".

Prince Jake ran over and gave Tom a midair palm slap, what they call a "high five". He was a lot more emotional now that Tom was free of his Yeerk. Laughing and playing this ridiculous game. He turned his head to look at me. I smiled and he threw me the ball.

I was determined to show I could play this game. I went about twenty Earth yards away from the hoop, where it was connected to the cave wall on my right. I judged the distance. Marco walked in, preparing to say something, but saw me and smirked.

"Air Andalite. This should be interesting."

I took off! Faster and faster, then leaped! I mimicked Tom and slammed the ball through the hoop, ducking my eyestalks. I followed through and stopped near Prince Jake, thinking back to the conversation he and his brother had during a previous game.

To the surprised faces of Prince Jake, Marco, and Tom, I said, (You got game?)

Marco burst out laughing, actually falling to the floor. Thinking I had embarrassed myself, my eyestalks deepened in color.

"Oh no, not you too Ax!" Rachel, just arriving, turned to Cassie and said, "We turn our backs for a few hours and the guys turn Ax into a bantering, bragging guy." She sounded horrified. Cassie giggled.

Prince Jake turned to Tom. "Do you mind? We have some business." Tom shrugged.

"Sure thing." He walked out as a hawk swooped into the cave.

(Did I miss anything?) Tobias is a _nothlit_, someone trapped in a morph. He is also my nephew and _shorm_. Tobias is perhaps the strangest of the human Animorphs – part human, part hawk, and part Andalite.

Marco grinned. "Yep. Ax here just signed on to play for the Lakers."

Prince Jake held up his hands with an expression of weariness. "We have important things to talk about here. Previously, our most powerful ally was Visser One's need to stay incognito. Well, now that the war is open and public, we just aren't strong enough to take them on anymore. Not without serious risks." He paused before continuing. "We need to consider making more Animorphs."

Rachel immediately said, "No way! Everybody remembers David, right?"

We all did.

"The point is, it doesn't matter. We need reinforcements right away." He looked around the group. "Does anybody have anything else to say?"

Silence.

"Okay, we don't have time to lose. We need to find recruits right away. The only problem is, it'll take too long to see if any candidate is a Yeerk. We might have to go to other towns, and –." Cassie cut him off.

"There is a group of kids we can be pretty sure aren't Yeerks, and they live nearby." She looked down at the ground.

"Who?"

She looked back up. Sighed. "Disabled kids. The Yeerks won't want them."

_Vecols_! It is a sad and desperate war when we must recruit _vecols_. I stared at Cassie like she was mentally unstable. (You have got – oh, I get it. I'm sorry, I must get used to your humor.) I tried laughing. I could tell from the looks they gave me that they weren't joking.

Rachel snorted. "Listen, they might be disabled, but they're not helpless."

"Okay, okay, let's not get into an ethical discussion here. We just don't have time. Marco, use our computer to find a nearby rehab center or something. Try to avoid one in the city. Too many Yeerks. Take Ax and get me as soon as you find it."

I didn't want to enlist _vecols_ to help in this war, but Prince Jake gave me an order.

Without another word, Marco and I turned and went to his log dwelling. Marco's father was hanging halfway through a hole in the roof, helping Eva mount a Dracon beam on top. (Do not be alarmed. We are merely surfing the web.)

He gave me look the others call "fishy", and went back to his work.

Marco had pulled up the Internet interface and was looking at a website already. I peered at the title.

It said: The Official Baywatch Website

(Marco, is this "Baywatch" a local _vecol_ center?) He looked at me and sighed.

"One day, Ax-man. One day I will show you true entertainment." He went to site after site, until we found one.

"Bingo."


	6. Cassie

**Note:** I have updated chapter five to include Ax's parents' names. Thank you, samuraigurl! I would also like to thank my continuous readers and reviewers: Elwing, SilverHawk 27, and LilManiac. And also Natalie, Tobias1452, animorph19, LucreziaNoin86 and Birdie num num. Thanks!

**Cassie**

For three days we gathered reinforcements.

On the first day, we flew straight to the rehab center in a town just a few miles from the city. We demorphed behind the building and I looked at the city. Many of the skyscrapers were gone. The Yeerks were moving fast.

"We need to get as many as possible at a time," Jake said. Only he, Marco, and I were here. We didn't want to take too many chances. "We'll try ten for the first run." He started to head in, but stopped and turned back, frustrated with himself.

"We need to get them a bird morph at least, so they can get out of here." I could tell he missed Tobias. He would have just snatched us one. Oh, wait.

"I'll just morph osprey and get us a bird." Jake looked at me. Nodded.

"Okay, but hurry. The Yeerks are everywhere."

I started morphing. The others say I have a gift, even Ax thinks so, but there isn't anything gifted about having a birds beak sprout from your face. As I started to shrink Marco smirked and whispered something to Jake. Halfway through the sentence my bird hearing kicked in.

"-making out." Jake laughed.

(What was that?) I was fully osprey now. They didn't answer.

(Guys.) I took off, spreading my wings and flapping to gain altitude. About fifty feet up, I went into a dive, preparing to snatch a pigeon snacking on some bread crumbs. Wings flared, talons outstretched, and he was mine.

(Okay, maybe it isn't the most dignified morph, but I don't think I can find another bird of prey in this area quickly.)

"It's okay, Cassie. Let's worry about getting inside." He took the pigeon from me as I started to demorph. I finished and we went in.

And almost ran over a technician. "Sorry, we're looking for the kids our age." I smiled.

She suspected something. "Why didn't you use the front door?" Good question. "And why is he holding a pigeon?" She pointed at Jake.

"This is, uh, Polly. Yeah, Polly! Polly the Wonder Pigeon! The mascot of the kids here. We didn't get to the kids our age last time we visited, and were told to use the back door so that Polly here wouldn't poop everywhere." I tried smiling again. Glanced at Marco and Jake, who were struggling to keep the laughter in.

The technician smiled back. "Try the fifth floor. Please, excuse me." She turned back to her computer.

As soon as we got in the hallway, Marco barked with laughter. Wiped tears from his eyes. "Polly the Wonder Pigeon?" He started laughing again. I gave him a dirty look.

"It worked, didn't it?"

Jake tried to stop laughing. "Okay, let's go."

After the short elevator ride, we stepped over to some girls playing cards.

Marco felt like saying, "It's Polly, the Wonder Pigeon!" He grinned wide.

The two girls looked at him. Looked at each other. Back at him. Then continued their game. One of them muttered something about us being on the wrong floor.

I sighed. Looked at Jake. He understood.

"Okay, everybody, we need ten volunteers." He looked around. Most of the kids didn't even look up. Those that did looked back to a kid, strikingly similar to Jake, who was sitting in a wheelchair. That kid shook his head and everybody went back to what they were doing.

"Bingo," Marco whispered. The kid rolled over to us. Stared with defiance at Jake, then Marco, then me. I looked away. I didn't like the idea of what we were doing to these kids.

"If you are looking to get a few cheap laughs here, I suggest you turn around and leave."

Jake drew a deep breath. "I'm sorry, what's your name?"

"James."

"Alright James, is there somewhere private we can talk? This is extremely important."

"Follow me." I guess he assumed we were okay. Or that he could handle us if we weren't. Either way, he led us to a sort of lobby. It was empty except for us.

"What do you want?" He crossed his arms.

Jake seemed at a loss. He probably didn't know where to start. It was understandable.

I started to morph wolf. James stared in awe as I finished. He managed to stutter, "How did you do that?"

I sighed. (It's a long story.) Then I went on for ten minutes, telling him about our war with the Yeerks. He nodded his head when I finished demorphing.

"Yeah, we've been listening to the radio. I didn't know anybody could fight them though. They sounded too technologically advanced."

"Don't tell that to Ax." Me and Jake laughed. James shook his head.

"I don't get it. Why are you here?"

Jake seemed pained. "We – need you to fight."

James stared angrily. "Why us? I'm sure there are hundreds of able-bodied kids just waiting for an opportunity like this. Why us?"

"We need to make sure the new fighters are Yeerk free. The Yeerks have written you off as useless, uninfestible. It would take too long to screen others. You guys we can be sure aren't infested."

I winced. That was harsh. However true, he managed to make it sound like that was how we felt. James just slumped.

"I guess you're right."

"Are you ready to fight? We need at least nine others today, and we'll be back tomorrow."

James looked at Jake, then at the door. "I'm ready. But I get to choose my team."

Jake smiled. "Okay." James left and came back five minutes later with nine other kids. This time Jake explained everything to them, with James confirming he heard the same story. While Jake briefed them, I produced the morphing cube and Marco morphed gorilla. All of them said they would fight. My eyes teared up. All of them touched the cube and afterward acquired the pigeon.

We left shortly afterwards, flying from their window, with Jake saying, (We'll be back tomorrow and take you all to the zoo for some more morphs.)

I cried.


	7. Marco II

**Note:** I am now adding a response section to your reviews, at the beginning of the chapter. If you don't want to read all of them, just skip down to the story.

Elwing: _Well, I like the beginning of the chapter, because it has great pace and character, but I felt that near the end, the pace went a little too fast, and James should have taken more time to comprehend what was going on._

This seems to be following pace with the Animorph books closely. When and how are you going to change it?

Yeah, it did go a little fast. But you have to understand, the all-out war had begun. James would have more readily accepted their story in this reality than the original Animorphs. And changing it? First, Loren isn't with the gang. Second, Jake's parents (and Tom) are. Third, all-out war sooner in the story. Fourthly, well, just read this chapter. I know, they are minor differences, but let me develop the story and I hope to give you something to gasp about.

Tobias1452: _POLLY THE WONDER PIGEON?  
Me likes. _

_Anyway, since tom is yeerk free, does that mean he is a morphie?_

Yeah, there's a song called Harry the Wonder Hampster (I think). But no, Tom isn't a morphie. Jake doesn't want to lose Tom in a battle now that he's free, so he has banned Tom from even looking at the morphing cube, let alone touching it.

LilManiac: _Aww... sadness. Definately different... and cooler!_

Yep. It's Cassie. What can you expect?

animorph19: _hey, it's good that tom is free so jakey won't be so depressed like in the books. oh and i loved chapter 5! very good :)_

Yeah, I loved chapter 5 too. Not really. But I was hoping you guys would notice Jake's attitude. Thank you.

SilverHawk27: _wow. Polly the wonder pigeon. OH! Rachel's father is named Dan_

Thank you! I'll try to update chapter 5 with that info as soon as possible.

LucreziaNoin86: _I have a question is Tobias a nothlit human already or not (he's my favorite)? I couldn't tell. Thanks_

No. He's the way he was at the end of the series. I like him, too. Second favorite character for me.

**Marco**

On the second day we brought Ax. We figured his presence would help the kids believe us. We needed to be in and out as quickly as possible, in case the Yeerks checked this building out.

James brought ten more of the kids in the lobby. Ten seemed to be our number. It was the most we could comfortably fit in the lobby with me, James, Cassie, a tiger, and Ax.

When they got inside everybody would be surprised about the tiger, then completely flabbergasted over Ax.

"It's just not fair. How come Ax gets fawned over? Sure, he's an alien and all, but how often do you see someone of my beauty?" I was complaining to Cassie, who gave me a dirty look and put her finger over her mouth. Jake had just finished talking.

James took a deep breath. "Okay, who wants to fight?"

Slowly everybody raised their hands.

James sighed. We went through the morphing cube process and had them acquire Polly, who was living in the lobby now.

Jake looked at James, then cleared his throat. "Today we are all going to the Gardens to get you some battle morphs. When you are acquiring those, Cassie will go to her barn and find us some bug morphs. Is everybody ready to morph?"

You could feel the excitement in the air. They were all jabbering fast, eyes darting around.

"Remember to take control of the morph quickly. It will be important in some morphs." He looked around once more, and went peregrine.

Cassie and I went osprey, Ax went into his northern harrier, and the twenty new Animorphs became pigeons.

(This must look extremely strange,) I said, (a flock of pigeons and four birds of prey.)

We soared, and the others flapped, to the Gardens. Landing outside the maintenance access area, we demorphed. I came out of my morph in time to see several half-pigeon half-humans, and some of the disabled kids already demorphed were lying down, in awkward positions. I saw Cassie turn away, her eyes watering.

But I saw somebody stand up. It was James. Slowly two others stood as well. Craig and Erica.

(I assume,) Ax began, (that if their disfigurement was caused after birth, then they should be healed.)

James looked around the group. He nodded to Timmy, winked at Kelly, and turned back to Jake. "Doesn't the Gardens have several wheelchairs around here?"

Cassie slapped her head for her stupidity, and ran inside. James, Craig, Erica, Jake, and I ran after her. We almost lost her when she burst out of a large closet with three folded up wheelchairs.

"Grab some more!"

We did, and had everybody in one within five minutes. Cassie morphed osprey and left for her barn. Any body who couldn't push themselves was pushed. We slowly got everybody a battle morph.

Crocodile for Collette.

Bobcat for a kid named Tuan.

Kelly acquired a bull.

Julio got a grizzly.

And James chose lion.

I had a bad flashback. David hitting me with a baseball bat. He betrayed us all.

Tsk tsk. Bad choice. But I seriously doubted that James would turn out like David. I hoped not. He seemed okay.

"Okay," Jake started, wiped out from the day's work. "You all have a battle morph now. Cassie will go to the rehab center later to let you acquire her bugs. Now go home and try to sleep."

They morphed to pigeons and I watched them fly away.

-

The next day we returned to the rehab center. James had already gathered the last ten in the lobby and was awaiting our arrival.

We flew in the window and started to demorph. As the ten non-morphers stared with jaws on the floor, James and the other nineteen auxiliaries explained what was happening. By the time the morphing cube was reassembled, the new ones had decided to fight.

Why not, they said, if James was already fighting? He looked at them proudly and warned them it wasn't going to be all fun and games.

This was almost too easy. I shot a look at Jake, then Cassie. None of us had said much.

The new recruits touched the cube, then acquired the pigeon flapping around the room. They were excited.

I looked at Jake with wonder. We were now six times our original size. He shook his head, disbelieving.

Then a horrified expression crossed everybody's face as an explosion rocked the building.


	8. Tobias II

**Note:** I am making it a habit to look up my reviewers and read their Animorph fics. So if you will please make it a habit to leave signed reviews, or tell me your name if you don't feel like signing on, it will be greatly appreciated. And now, responses to your reviews.

LilManiac: _OH!OH! YOU HAVE TO UPDATE SOON!  
OHWAA!  
this is brilliant! write on, dude or dudette!_

Thank you. My updates will be slightly more spaced apart since we are back in school. By the way, I'm a dude. Steve's the name, satisfaction's the game.

LucreziaNoin86: _sorry about the question, I have been reading so much fanfiction lately that I got your story confused with someone else's. Sorry.  
Well anyway, I am really enjoying your's, it's been awesome. I love the way your writing the story that the books have but tweeking it just right. Please keep at it.  
LucreziaNoin86_

It's okay. But seriously folks, I hope to have everyone cringing later in the plot. It's going to be one hell of a ride (I hope).

Nora D: _This is really pretty amazing, in that it's so close to the real books but slightly different. I'm used to the "alternate ending" fics fixing all of the mistakes, making everything peachy fine.. You're right, this is different. You're not meddling a whole lot. I like this. X3_

Yep. Thanks. Well, it should start changing a lot right… about…NOW! BWAAHAHA!

**Tobias**

I was soaring, floating high above the meeting place of forest and valley. I hadn't eaten since noon, and was trying to find something to eat before the sun went down.

There! A lone pigeon, flitting through the trees toward the camp. Wondering for only a second why a pigeon was so far from the city, I dove.

Like a bullet, I…wait, there were more! Several more! I took a quick count, something poking at my mind. There were thirty.

If I were a human, I would have swallowed hard.

(James, is that you?) I was hoping it wasn't. The plan was for them to stay in the rehab center until everything was done. Plus I didn't like the fact that Jake, Cassie, Marco, and Ax weren't with them.

A voice, faint and almost indistinct, answered. (Yeah. Jake told us to fly this way and look for a valley.)

I panicked. (James, what happened? Are the others okay?)

(Everybody with me is. Jake and them morphed to fight off the Yeerks.)

It was worse than I thought. (How many were there?)

(A whole lot. They weren't on to us, it was just Visser One extending his power by attacking nearby towns.) All of the pigeons landed in the clearing at the head of the valley and started to demorph.

(James, I'm going to find Rachel and have her help you guys. Then I'm going to help Jake and get them to come back here in one piece.) I looked at the group. Now five people were standing tall. In addition to James, Craig, and Erica there was a tall redheaded guy and a fair-headed girl. Hey, you notice things like hair color when you're a hawk.

James smiled and stepped over to the two, who were walking around like they couldn't believe it. "The morphing process healed you, Alex and Jenna. Welcome to the club." He gave them a warm embrace. There were tears.

I banked toward the cabins, in one of which Rachel and her family lived. She stepped out, looked around, then up, and smiled. She started to morph eagle.

(Not right now Rachel.) She stopped morphing. (I need you to help the new Animorphs. They're at the mouth of the valley.) She put a pouty look on her face, then walked toward the thirty kids standing and sitting.

I banked again, heading for the rehab center. I had to at least try to help the rest of the gang. I just didn't know what they expected to accomplish fighting thousands of Hork-Bajir.

Halfway there I spotted an orange flash below me. Jake! I soon saw the rest of them.

(Jake! You made it! That's-)

(No time,) he said breathlessly. (They are. Hot on our tail. Must move faster.)

Then I saw what he was talking about. A dozen Hork-Bajir were following on foot. But they were falling behind. What worried Jake was the one smart Yeerk who took to the trees.

You see, the Hork-Bajir are arboreal. The move faster and more naturally in the trees. This Yeerk was catching up.

(I'll try to slow him down.) I turned sharply, then dove. Faster and faster, until I reached out with my talons.

"ARRRGGGHHH!" Blood was streaming through his fingers, which were clasped to his eyes.

(Thanks!) was all I heard before Jake and the others disappeared. I landed in a tree.

Uh-oh. The other Hork-Bajir had caught up. If I stayed still, they might not see me.

"There's the _gafrash_ bird!" The one I had wounded was pointing at me and staring me down with one good eye. I screeched and started to morph.

Halfway to Hork-Bajir they hit me. Reeling, I grabbed a branch and swung away, completing my morph as I swung. They swung after me.

I let my Hork-Bajir reactions take over, swinging me faster through the trees. I was a blur, moving faster and faster as I snagged unseen branches and trunks. One Hork-Bajir was closing in. I sneaked a quick look behind at him.

He was huge! Probably eight feet tall, looking like he had just came out of a WWE wrestling match. Muscle layered over muscle, he probably weighed over four hundred pounds.

If he caught up with me at this speed and tackled me, it would crush every bone in my body. Unless I acted first.

I stopped as abruptly as I could, turning around to face my pursuer. We had long ago left all of the other Yeerks behind. If I could take this guy down, I could probably safely demorph and be gone by the time the rest of the Yeerks arrived.

He closed in, still incredibly fast. He had looked surprised, but now only loathing crossed his face.

"ANDALITE BAN-." He stopped speaking because I rammed my fist into his face, snapping a few finger bones. My arm bent at the elbow from the shock.

I had only meant to stun him, but he kept on flying and his neck ripped sickingly into my elbow blades. He fell to the forest floor with a dull thump.

I wasted no time. I started demorphing as I swung to a tree with a lot of leaves. As soon as I finished, I took off. Maybe ten seconds passed before the rest of the Yeerks stooped cautiously by the lifeless Hork-Bajir on the ground.

One Yeerk searched the sky. His eyes locked on me as he pulled a Dracon and fired.

TSSSEEEEWWW!

I dove and skimmed the tree tops, speeding away

-

Arriving in the valley, I found many of the disabled kids sitting in cheap wheelchairs around a fire. Jake and Cassie were off to the side, holding hands. Marco was talking to Ax, and Ax was searching the darkening sky with his stalk eyes. Rachel was crying.

I landed on a log. Rachel spun around and looked at me, then scooped me up in her arms.

"Tobias! We thought you were gone!" She was laughing now. I started to demorph.

"Marco gave Ax a look and said, "See? You owe me ten bucks." Ax looked puzzled.

Rachel gave Marco a dirty look. He just laughed and turned to me. "Well, I am personally glad you don't get to miss the fun."

I was puzzled. "What fun?"

Jake spoke up. "Right before the Yeerks saw us, they said something about unloading the Blade Ship. And Tom's Yeerk had helped start using the ship to transport alien metals to the surface pool. They are landing the Blade Ship for hours at a time and building a new fleet." He grinned.

I groaned. "You don't mean…"

He grinned even wider. "Yep. We're going to steal the Blade Ship."


	9. Cameo by: Toby

**Note:** Hey, cameo appearance by Toby! If you don't know Toby, she is the free Hork-Bajir's seer and leader. Now go stand in the corner. And now, responses to your reviews!

LilManiac: _Wicked! Stealin a Blade ship!  
And hey Steve, nice to meet ya!  
Dude, you can call me... Maniac!  
i never reveal who i really am... or where i live... ya know?  
the Yeerks might be out there...  
hehe!_

Yep. The idea popped in my head in seventh period. I got a crazed look and started shouting, "I need to write that down!" over and over again. But seriously. Never let them know. Just know that everyone is in danger. Yeah. Even you.

LittleMidgett: _I've been reading this for awhile I was just to lazt to review...but I'm over that laziness now.  
I like it! Just about everyone is in character, speed is good, but sometimes it does move a bit quick...but hey, no one's perfect and the storyline makes up for it.  
Hope you continue soon! I wanna know what happens!_

Well, thank you. Welcome aboard.

SilverHawk27: _YAY! Stealing! i am not crazy._

Of course not.

LucreziaNoin86: _ooh, can't wait. Oh and thanks for updating so fast. that is so cool._

Wait no longer. The end is near…

animorph19: _gasp steal the Blade Ship? that's pretty bold..._

Yep. But not just yet. First, a little side action.

**Toby**

The Animorphs had a plan to stop the Yeerks dead in their tracks. But they couldn't do it without my help.

Without the help of the Hork-Bajir.

In three days they were to sneak aboard the Blade Ship and take control. They planned to lift off and return to space, as the Yeerks do daily. However, they hoped to use the Blade Ship to damage the Pool ship enough to board. After that, they were to try and contact the Andalite fleet.

The rest would be history. But they needed me.

Actually, James and the auxiliary Animorphs offered to do it, but I told Jake it would be more practical to use the Hork-Bajir Liberation Army. He agreed, but also said groups of six would go with us. He said that would give the Yeerks the impression that we were not doing anything too dangerous. I applauded his decision.

Our plan was simple. Large groups of free Hork-Bajir, plus six Animorphs, were to attack the Yeerk patrol groups. We hoped to capture and free many Hork-Bajir.

But we would also lose lives. Many Hork-Bajir would die in the next few days. We as a race were rapidly approaching extinction, and that is what I fear most. That and the fact that instead of being a peaceful species we were brutal killers now.

Anytime I look up at Mother Sky, I get deeply saddened at the loss of our true nature. I also get a sick, nauseous feeling that the human Cassie calls "home-sickness".

"I truly miss the way we once were, before the Yeerks, before the killing." I was sitting in a tree with Cassie, who had told me she couldn't sleep.

"Me too. Sometimes I look back at my childhood and wish I had never known the Yeerks existed. Before I met Elfangor, I had known, known deep in my heart, that I would never kill." She was crying. "Now…now I have killed so many that I wonder if I will ever be human again."

Cassie is by far the most sentimental Animorph. She is always looking for a way out of the mess, trying to avoid any kind of casualty if she could. Don't get me wrong, she is a brave and sure warrior, but she is also the soldier who would want to never fight again if she had a chance.

I wondered if my fellow Hork-Bajir would ever take the peaceful path again.

I did not know what to say. On some levels, we understood each other perfectly. On others, not so well. I slowly stood and leaped to my nest in the trees a quarter of a mile away. As I swung, I thought about our short conversation and how everybody in the camp would do over the next few days.

Hork-Bajir, human, and Andalite. Some we would never see again.

-

Over two hundred Hork-Bajir warriors were ready and capable to fight. The dozen biggest and best fighters wore make-shift blue bands around their biceps. They would help us hide in the nearby towns and in the woods, and pass as Yeerks if the opportunity presented itself.

We were divided into five groups of about forty-five to fifty, with six Animorphs in each group. In each Animorph group, there was one of the original Animorphs, one of the healed auxiliary Animorphs, and four disabled Animorphs. The idea was to give the new Animorphs some experience before the capture of the Blade Ship.

My group of fifty-three warriors included my father Jara Hamee. The Animorph group with us contained Jake, James, Kelly, Timmy, Collette, and John. We were to attack first.

We marched out of the valley, the Animorphs leading from the air. The other groups filtered throughout the forest, going to the planned spots we had scouted. Our first attack was at "high noon".

My group headed for Cassie's old barn. We were going to find the nearest, large concentration of Hork-Bajir Controllers and capture, then liberate them from their Yeerks. All of the other groups were doing similar things.

We eventually reached her barn, barely before eleven thirty. We rested in the deserted barn and house, preparing for the assault in less than thirty minutes.

Twenty minutes passed, and Jake assembled us outside in the meadow. He gave us a short and simple speech. I never have seen him more determined or proud before.

"We are going to attack the Yeerks soon. It will be hard. It will be deadly. You might die. But you will die in the knowledge that, if we succeed, your courage will have led to a new Hork-Bajir nation. If we win, we will take back your home planet and all of you can live in peace forever. If we win, your children's children will speak of your bravery, rivaling that of those who dared to enter Father Deep. You will fight hard, bloody, and to the last man. You will fight till you have sliced apart every Yeerk who dares to enslave you. You will fight for country, brother, and freedom. You will fight like this, because you are Hork-Bajir!"

I doubted whether my brothers understood half of what Jake had said, but they started to slap their chests repeatedly while hooting. I joined them, my tail twitching. It twitched out of happiness, not sadness. We were going to win.

-

(Watch out!)

James warning saved me just in time. I ducked, spun using my tail, and swiftly swung my fist upwards to connect with the Hork-Bajir Controllers beak. His head flew back, blood seeping down his neck. He was alive, but wasn't going to wake up for a while. I immediately turned and jumped on the back of a Controller who was swinging his blades at a lion – James.

Knocking him out, James and I turned to face the last of the Hork-Bajir Controllers. At first, there were twenty Hork-Bajir and thirty human Controllers, but most were unconscious or dead. Some of the humans and one Hork-Bajir had fled, making it easier on us.

This was our fourth attack in two days. We were down to five Animorphs and thirty-nine Hork-Bajir warriors. Jake had left a few hours earlier to check up on everybody and coordinate the final assault. Most of the missing warriors had escorted our prisoners, thirty-one in all, back to the valley. There the Yeerks had a long three days waiting.

One of my soldiers had died so far. Sar Dellon. A close friend of my fathers, we had wrapped him up and sent his body with the guarded prisoners to the valley. There he is to be buried under a tree, in our fashion.

Unexpectedly, the remaining Yeerks threw their hands up and surrendered. We stopped and collected the unconscious and surrendered Yeerks and sent them to the valley. My command was now down to thirty, plus the Animorph team.

"So, James, do you think it is wrong that we are killing the Yeerks who surrendered?" I was testing him. I barely knew him when we started this three-day attack, and now I was still in the dark about him.

He shrugged. "Not really. Maybe when this war is over, we can round up the prisoners and jail them or whatever, but now is not the time to worry about niceties." I was beginning to like this young human.

"Toby! Toby! Your father die! Your father die!"

My heart stopped. I rushed through the warehouse and came to a stop by my father. He wasn't dead, but he was definitely dying.

"Father…"

"Toby is leader. Toby is son." He looked into my eyes one final time and smiled. "Toby is hope."

His head fell back, lifeless.


	10. Jake II

**Note:** We are back on schedule with Jake this chapter. We may have another cameo or two. I felt like writing in Toby's character was a good approach to telling the story of the free Hork-Bajir and their struggle for survival. Anyway, here are your responses.

Tiamath: _Great story you have here. I'm really enjoying it!  
Just one thing, though...I'm pretty sure that Toby is female, and in your note you've identified her as male. It's probably just a spelling mistake, but I thought I'd point it out because I've always found her name confusing. (You also probably already know this, but her parent's names are Jara Hamee (father) and Ket Halpak (mother)_

Thank you for your input and review. I read through my chapter after I posted it and found out I had mistakenly identified Toby. She is indeed female, and the mistake was pure not thinking on my part. Apologies all around.

LucreziaNoin86: _good job, but one hint,I'm pretty sure that Toby is a girl_

Thank you, and indeed she is. You have to admit, in the books she comes across as a battle hardened warrior and thus seems masculine. (No, I'm not sexist.)

SilverHawk27: _that was sad. oh, toby's a girl. other than that i really LOVED this chapter_

Indeed it was. Jara Hamee was a famous and loved Hork-Bajir, and I hated to see him go. I know, I know, I'm the one who killed him. But I will miss Toby's father deeply.

LilManiac: _Aww... so sad.  
But hey, this is good! I never thought about Toby's pov before..  
KEEP IT UP!_

I knew I had to tell about the battle before taking the Blade Ship, and originally it was going to be in Jake's POV. Then the thought _Just use Toby's POV_ popped in my head and I decided to.

LittleMidgett: _Aw...poor Toby...wonder how everything will work out for her. Awesome...love it great!  
Doin a great job dude!  
Hmm...steal the Bladeship then the Pool ship...interesting!  
Can't wait! _

Just so you know, I have already planned Jara Hamee's memorial at her grave. And yes, I know that stealing the Pool Ship is a bit repetitive, but how else are they going to…never mind. Must not give too much away.

**Jake**

I let a thermal lift me up, as high as the clouds. It had been an exhausting three days, running and attacking and morphing and attacking again. From my height I could easily see from one end of our playing field to the other, and then some. I saw some of our groups attacking, and some of the Yeerks fighting back. I saw Yeerks rounding up humans for infestation. Almost our entire city was captured now, with a few dozen still escaping Yeerk detection.

Too much. It had to stop now. Before it was too late.

Then I saw it. The Yeerk Pool under the city was no longer completely subterranean. There was a large opening in the top of the dome, where the mall and various other buildings had once stood.

For at least fifteen minutes I made no attempt to flap or move at all. I just floated up high, toying with the idea of destroying the Yeerk Pool.

Some kind of explosive would do it, but no missile would ever get close enough before being incinerated by a Dracon.

We could possibly drive the explosives in a back of a truck or car, but I just as soon killed that idea as well. No human cars were moving down in the city, only Bug fighters and one- to four-seat Yeerk "cars".

Obviously, human technology wasn't good enough to beat the Yeerks. So I thought about Yeerk technology. If we stole the Blade Ship, we could turn the ship's Dracon beams on the Pool.

But then I stopped. Of course I could never order a massacre like that. Sure, they were Yeerks, but they were completely harmless to us in that Pool. If we took the Blade Ship, those Yeerks would be off of this planet in a day, so why bother my conscience?

I turned my attention to more important things. Like whether or not we could even take the Blade Ship. Ax seemed sure he could surpass the codes, but he also said that if those codes were on a time-based rotation it would take him twice as long to break in.

Chances. Risks. Things that had to be overcome in order to win. Because we had to win. Had to.

I also worried where Visser One would be when we attacked. If he was on the Blade Ship, then we were screwed. On the other hand, he might be on the Pool Ship. That is where I wanted him to be. There, we would have a major advantage over him.

As I worried and ranted to myself, I drifted back toward Toby and James' attack group. They, plus another forty Hork-Bajir and the rest of the Animorphs, would be the assault group for the Blade Ship.

I swept past an old office building and into sight of Toby's temporary headquarters. (James, Toby, get ready to assemble at the school. I'll go get the others.) Before they could say or do anything except nod their head, I lifted off.

So for the rest of the afternoon I flew in a more or less straight path along the checkpoints we had designated. One by one I signaled the Animorphs to meet at the school.

And later that day, they arrived. Roughly seventy Hork-Bajir. Thirty auxiliary Animorphs. The six original Animorphs. We were here. We were ready.

-

(Charge!) We rushed forward, in what seemed like an old-fashioned cavalry attack. A cheetah shot past me and sank her fangs into one of the six guards at the foot of the entrance ramp to the Blade Ship. Soon after a free Hork-Bajir jumped on the only human guard and dragged him to the ground.

I pounced, hitting a Hork-Bajir in the face with a paw the size of a dinner plate. His head snapped back and swung his fist instinctively. His wrist blade dug into my shoulder and held me helplessly in place as he toppled unconsciously on top of me.

I struggled to free myself, but the blade in my shoulder rendered my front left leg completely useless. As I struggled I saw a wolf, bull, lion, and Andalite take out the rest of the guards.

I kept on struggling until the weight was lifted off of me and the blade pulled gently out of my shoulder. I was lifted up by a giant, furry, black arm.

(Wake up, Jakey-poo.) Marco laughed. I shakily stood up and ordered everybody to stop.

I told the dozen "Blue Bands" to lead the assault into the Blade Ship. They sauntered up the ramp and onto the ship. We continued down the strangely empty corridor until we came to the door to the bridge. I idly wondered where everyone was.

Then I snapped out of it. (Okay, Blue Bands first. When everybody sees them and turns away, we jump. Toby and Ax will try to seal off the doors, but if they can't do it in time me, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias will hold them off. Ready? Go!) One Blue Band opened the door to the bridge and we saw dozens of humans, Taxxons, and Hork-Bajir watching various monitors. All at once they looked up at the twelve Blue Bands. All at once they hurriedly went back to work.

But the one human standing in the middle didn't appear so frightened. In fact, he seemed chagrinned. He narrowed his eyes. "Why are you bozos in here?"

One of them laughed. "Visser One sent us."

The Yeerk wasn't impressed. "He told me he wouldn't send anybody to the bridge."

The same warrior laughed harder. Walking to the Yeerk in control of the bridge, he stopped and leaned close. Then he swung his fist hard into the man's throat. Immediately, the others launched at various Controllers at desks.

(Now!) I yelled, bounding into the room. Ax was beside me, slicing away. I saw Rachel rear up, knocking two Hork-Bajir heads together like something you would see on an old movie. Marco lifted another Hork-Bajir up and launched him through the air at three Taxxons. The Taxxons were sliced open and their brothers set upon them.

The remainder of the free Hork-Bajir were outside, waiting for the rush of reinforcements that was bound to come at any second. Toby went to Ax's side and I looked around.

No Yeerk was left standing. Most were dead, some unconscious, and the rest lying on the floor in terror. I saw the Yeerk who had control of the bridge before we came. He was regaining consciousness in time to see a lion, wolf, and Hork-Bajir guarding him.

I limped to his side. (Where is Visser One?) He just stared at me, then spit.

I repeated the question. He repeated his response. Then I smacked him in the head with a paw.

His head rolled around, dazed. The Hork-Bajir warrior grabbed his head and held it still. I stepped closer, my fangs inches from his neck.

(Spit again, Yeerk, and the Hork-Bajir will slice your tongue clean off. Tell me where he is.)

This time he cooperated.

"He's down in the Pool area."

(You mean on the planet?) I asked incredulously.

"Yes, on the planet. Now let me go!"

(Gag him. He might be useful later.)

Ax turned to me from the helm. (Prince Jake, I have surpassed the codes.)

(Great. Let's get this bird in the air.)


	11. Cameo by: James

**Note:** Yeah, here we are, another cameo. So soon? Yep. Let's get to the responses and get to the story so we can see what happens.

LilManiac: _Jakey-poo? That's cute!  
Hehe!  
I love the fight... but i get a feeling that it's all just a little too easy...  
Something cools gonna happen, isn't it?  
AH, EITHER WAY IT'S GONNA BE COOL, CAUSE YOU'RE COL!_

Yeah. Cool. I believe it is time to rock your socks off.

LucreziaNoin86: _Totally awesome. I really hope that your still planning on having Loren in the story, and I can't wait to see how you handle that._

Yes, Loren will arrive later. But not until after the war ends…

Elwing: Hey, I thought you left us a while back. I really missed your reviews. But thanks for returning. And about this review section: I find it easier, not harder, to respond to your reviews this way. But thank you for your concern.

Early: Hey, I appreciate you reviewing all of my chapters at once. I see you found my story and took a liking to it. I have heard from many people, including you several times, to slow down. That is apparently what I need to work on the most. To answer an issue you arose in one particular review: I know what you mean when you say the Escafil device and its properties are seriously flawed. I vaguely remember Rachel trying to change her appearance (I think it involved her hair) after demorphing and it didn't work. It might have something to do with the difference between appearance and DNA, or it might be that K. A. indeed needed an "out". I don't know. But please keep reviewing.

LittleMidgett: _Gettin better! Oh so much more interesting as well!  
Seemed a bit easy for them to get the Bladeship...what's up with that? Where was everyone?  
I wanna know! AH!  
Sorry...I'm in a weird mood...  
But continue soon!  
And thank you for that review...greatly appreciated!_

It was easy for them to get on the Blade Ship because they had something like a hundred warriors and just plain charged the ship. Plus Visser One was absent. Where is that old goose, anyway…?

SilverHawk27: _cool it was kinda hard to follow at first, but then i re-read it it it's really awsome, UPDATE SOON!_

I assume you meant the part where Jake was flying was confusing. Sorry. I'll try to make it better.

animorph19_ hahaha..."jakey-poo". nice touch. so they finally get into the blade ship. yay. i wonder how differently jake will lead this time around since they were actually able to rescue his family (which made him act all cuckoo for coco puffs when they weren't rescued)..._

I don't know. How will he act? Maybe we should ask the author…hmm? I'm the author? Uh-oh. Uhhh…here's the story.

**James**

The Blade Ship slowly lifted into the air. I looked through the window in the hull of the ship and saw several Hork-Bajir running towards the ship, waving their arms. I smiled to myself. Then I looked back to my troops. Scarred, bloody, tired, and proud.

(Alright everybody, demorph and remorph. We need to be able to fight when we get on the Pool Ship.) I turned to Jake, who was back in his natural form. (How are we going to get on the Pool Ship?)

Jake looked at me. He smiled. "Ax tells me that if we can hit near and around the base of the engines, we might be able to take out their power. They won't be able to shoot or move, then we will try to use the grappling hooks to connect just outside the bridge. Animorphs will attack the bridge, Hork-Bajir will hold the corridor outside." He laughed. "It might work." He laughed again.

I didn't see what was so funny. I was plenty scared of dying, or of one of my friends dying. I started to demorph. (Jake, what do we do about Visser One?)

He looked at me strangely. "We hope for the best." He turned back to the helm next to Toby and Ax. I finished demorphing and wondered if Jake had lost his mind. He was switching between complete euphoria and complete mysteriousness. I turned back to the Animorphs. They were laying around in various positions, breathing hard and limbs twitching.

"Alright, everybody remorph. We're almost out of the atmosphere." The few that could nodded and all started morphing. Somebody tapped me on the shoulder. I spun around.

It was Jake. "We are leaving the atmosphere. Ax is going to close the window and we won't be able to see the Pool Ship. When Ax gives the order, we charge through those doors." He pointed at the back of the bridge. "Do you understand?"

"Of course." I started to morph lion, going to relay the orders in morph when I saw it. A lone Bug fighter, soaring past the Blade Ship. I tensed up, expecting it to fire on us. Instead it just kept on flying, as if it were on a lazy Sunday drive. Half lion and half human, I shivered. Something bad was going to happen. I felt evil exuding from that Bug fighter, felt it and knew something terrible was going to happen. Soon.

Trying to shake it off and failing, I finished my morph and looked around through my lion eyes. The others had also finished their morphs. The window was closing and the dim stars of outer space were locked away, out of sight.

(Alright everybody, Ax is getting ready to fire at the Pool Ship.) I was surprised. So soon?

(Jake, are we close enough to it yet? I mean, we don't want to shoot the Pool Ship and then spend thirty seconds under fire just getting there.)

(Don't worry. The Pool Ship stays just outside of the atmosphere. Ax actually had to back us away from it so that we wouldn't blow ourselves up with the backflash.) Then he spoke to all. (We are firing in twenty seconds. That means we'll probably be fighting in a minute. Before we get on that Pool Ship, I want everybody to know that I am proud of them.)

Marco cut in. (Jake expects every man to do his duty.) I laughed in my head. I was one of the few who knew what that meant. Admiral Nelson sent out a message to his fleet in 1803 that said, "England expects every man to do his duty." Then I remembered that Nelson died in that battle.

I wanted to throw up. It was too soon. We weren't ready. This next battle might take the lives of the last real hope for humanity. It was insane! We just weren't ready.

(Okay, now!) Even as Jake ordered it I heard the twin Dracon beams blast across space. Then, unexpectedly soon, a loud explosion resounded throughout the Blade Ship.

(Prince Jake, they are turning the ship on auxiliary burners. If we do not move-)

(Alright, let's do it! Rachel, you're first through.) I felt a slight acceleration. (Then Marco and me.) We turned toward the Pool Ship's bridge. (James and the first group will follow us.) Oh, God, we weren't ready! (Next Cassie and the second group of Animorphs, plus Toby and half of the Hork-Bajir.) There was no way we would survive! I heard the grappling hooks shoot out. (Tobias and the third group of Animorphs next.) Then I remembered what Jake had told me long ago. He had told me that being brave isn't being fearless. (Ax, the second half of the Hork-Bajir, and the last of the Animorphs will bring up the rear.) Rachel had already gotten inside. He had told me that being brave is not showing your fear to those around you. (Let's go James!) Jake and Marco ran inside. I gathered my courage and followed.

Running past a deflated Taxxon and another Taxxon eating the first, I called out, (Alright everybody, let's go!) A polar bear lumbered past me and knocked a small, monkey looking thing off balance. The monkey thing almost pulled a Dracon, but thought better of it and ran away. I caught up with Jake. (What was that thing?)

He looked behind. The monkey thing ran in a side room. (That's a Gedd. Don't worry about them unless they pull a gun on you. Watch out!) Three Hork-Bajir leaped out of a side hallway and were slashing at Jake and me. A cougar landed on my back and used it as a springboard to jump at one of the Hork-Bajir. A red-tailed hawk flew repeatedly at another.

I coiled my leg muscles that would send flying threw the air. I leaped! I latched onto the last Hork-Bajir and shook my head as he gashed my back legs with his claws. Then suddenly he fell, spilling blood everywhere. I stepped off of his corpse and loped to the bridge. Rachel was poised to charge through and Jake, Marco, Cassie, Ax, Kelly, Joe, Ax, Pedro, and several Hork-Bajir were already beside her.

"Jake, we are holding them off." Toby was bleeding on both of her arms and forehead. Her middle wrist blade on her left arm was gone. "We need everybody down there now to stay, otherwise we will get run over."

Jake was quiet, Then, (Okay, tell them to stay put.) Then he addressed us after Toby had left. (It looks like we are going to have to do this without the rest of them. That's okay. Just remember how easy the Blade Ship was. Rachel, on three.) She reared up, prepared to knock the door down. Jake started counting and she knocked the door flat on two.

He leaped, bounded, slithered, loped, galloped, and flew into the bridge of the Pool Ship. I had never been more afraid, giddy, pumped, and tired at once. Then utter shock hit me as I saw _him_. How? Why?

(Hello, bandits. Or should I say, Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, Ax, and...) He peered at the rest of us. (Some new additions, it would seem.) Then he narrowed his eyes as he saw the dozen or so free Hork-Bajir. (And some traitors. Welcome aboard. I hope you enjoy your visit. It will be your last.) Then Visser One started laughing.

I turned to look at Jake, but he leaped. Visser One put a neat, two inch cut into Jake's shoulder. Then everybody started slashing, kicking, yelling, and punching.

I spotted a Taxxon raising a Dracon beam. I was at his side in one leap and sliced his top ten legs clean off. Then I saw the Visser tail fighting with Ax. I could easily take him down. I started running, faster and faster. I leaped, soaring through the air. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a Hork-Bajir Controller raise his arm. In his hand was a Dracon.

I had only a second to wonder when a wave of pain swept my body.

The pain! The burning, torching agon-


	12. Rachel II

**Note:** After James and his chapter we have Rachel. The epic battle onboard the Pool Ship between the Yeerks and the Animorphs is coming to a climatic end. Who will win? Who will lose? Who will survive? But first, your responses.

Elwing: _Excellent writing! Good pace, good length, good suspense!  
You thought I left? Why would I leave such a good story? But the reason is because on the weekdays, I have school, and so I don't come to FFN. I need to budget time for homework. But I always return on the weekend.  
Did James die? I remember in Book 54, Rachel ddidn't get to finish her sentence when she died._

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm glad…no, make that ecstatic that you liked it. I should probably spend more time on my homework, as well. But sadly, yes, James did die. Personally, I loved him. Hey…hey, put away that tomato! I'm sorry! AHHHH!

Tiamath_ Noo! James! Well, you may have just torched my favorite Animorph, but your story still gets a five-star rating in my book. :)_

I'm sorry, over and over again. But hey, maybe I will write a story where he comes back and makes everything right. That sounds like an awesome and completely original idea!

LittleMidgett: _You killed him?  
Or is he just out cold..but I think he's dead...AH!  
Excellent chapter though...poor poor James...  
What else is gonna happen!_

Yes, James is dead. The Dracon beam incinerated him. Not trying to sound harsh. What else, you ask? Well, you see, soon…well, just read the story.

LilManiac: _Ahh! This was magnificent!  
And that took a while to spell! Hehe!  
Great! Poor James...  
But good! WOW!_

Thank you. What I was afraid of was making James look like a coward in the story, and right before he died for the cause, too. That isn't why I killed him though.

SilverHawk27: _wow, James isn't as cool headed as the books made us think. great chapter. he's dead, isn't he?_

Yeah and yeah. And thank you. He is dead.

animorph19: _i never really liked james, but i enjoyed this chappie. he seems kinda panicky and doubtful for a leader..._

You didn't like James? Well, I'm sure you had your reasons. He is, but he hides it well. It's called being brave, you know.

Early: _((Can no longer speak and is reduced to gutteral cries))  
"UGH! Urgh!"  
((Takes chapter 11, frames it and mounts it on the wall))  
Great job! You've got the formula down and now it's cake!_

Wow. I laughed really hard when I read that. I'm flattered. And thank you. Judging from your other reviews, I take that as a huge compliment.

ss4rycol: _very well done, one of the best i've read, continue soon please_

If I'm not mistaken, you are new. Hello. Now that's out of the way, thank you for the review. One of the best? Wow. Thanks.

**Rachel**

I saw the lion soaring through the air. Then a bright flash and he was gone. I stared dumbly. No, no, no, no, NO! James! In mid-charge, I ran unseeing into some control panels, but I didn't care. NO! James!

Visser One was shouting something about shooting in the bridge, then somebody yelled louder than him. They kept on yelling James name out, and I idly wondered who it was. A Hork-Bajir sliced a chunk out of my face and I back handed him in the gut, almost automatically. Who was yelling?

Then I saw a tan and yellow blur race from one end of the bridge to the other, to where the Visser and Ax were still fighting. Cheetah! It was a cheetah!

Then the cheetah pounced. I quickly went through the list in my head of who morphed cheetah. There were four. Steve, Ashley, Juan, and…Pedro!

(Pedro, NO!) Pedro was a very close friend of James, and now he was charging the Visser. But it was too late. Pedro latched onto the Visser's tail and worried it vigorously. The Visser tried to shake him lose, but only succeeded in breaking the cheetahs back leg. Ax stepped closer and started to whip his tail faster and faster. The Visser blocked maybe half of his strikes. The rest left deep gashes.

Movement! I turned and gutted a Taxxon, who was intent on feeding off of my many cuts. He screeched, spilling his guts all over me and the helm. More Taxxons came over to feast and I fought them off even as I watched the fight between, Pedro, Ax, and the Visser.

Then, suddenly, the Visser's tail went limp! Ax hit the Visser across the face with the flat of his tail blade. (Leave that body, Abomination, or I will slice you from it.) Almost all other fighting had ceased. Everybody was looking at Ax and the Visser.

The Visser nodded and bowed his head. He was going to surrender! After these long months of fighting, we have finally won!

But then the Visser started morphing. I heard Ax yell. (For my brother!)

FWWAAAAPP!

The Visser's half-morphed head hit the ground with a sickening thud.

We all looked around dumbly. Visser One…was dead. Dead? Dead. Years fighting him, trying to survive him, outsmart him, and he's dead? Just like that?

Cassie whispered, (We've won.)

All of the sudden, happiness, glee, and delight all welled up inside of me. We had won! (We've won! I can't believe it, we've won!)

Cassie spoke up again. (But for what price? Jara Hamee? James? Every controller we have ever killed?) She fell silent. I couldn't believe her.

(But we've won!) I suddenly felt embarrassed. I sounded like a pouty child, whining to her mother. After all of this, I was pouting?

"You haven't won yet, bandits." It was another Yeerk. Probably second-in-command. "We can still fight you and kill more of you."

Jake gave us a private order. (On three, everybody lay down.) What? (One, two THREE!) Everybody fell flat on the ground as the free Hork-Bajir from outside the bridge entered and shot over our heads with low-level Dracon beams. They kept on firing until all of the Yeerks were unconscious.

(Okay, stop. Ax, try to take control of the helm. When you do, send Rachel to get me. Everybody else is to come with me. We are going to clear the rest of the Pool Ship of Yeerks. Let's go.) The free Hork-Bajir and the rest of the Animorphs left the bridge, leaving me and Ax in silence.

Ax let out a long breath. He eyeballed the spot where James had been killed and shivered. I raised my eyebrows. (Something on your mind?)

He looked at me. (Just old superstition.) He walked to the helm and started to push buttons.

(Like what?) I casually swatted a Yeerk who wascoming to. He had only been partially stunned by the Dracon. He blinked and slumped back down.

Ax swiveled an eyestalk on me, keeping the other three on the control panel. (It's said that if a comrade is killed in battle, his _dawem_ haunts the ship until his fellow warriors avenge him.) Ax glanced at an unconscious Hork-Bajir. (James has not been avenged.) He shivered again.

(_Dawem_? What's that?)

(A _dawem_ is what makes any Andalite – or human, I suppose – what he or she is. It makes them sentient. A life-force, I guess. It is very difficult to explain. But without it, we would be nothing.)

I nodded. (What we call that is a ghost, or spirit. We also believe that if the person who died was unfinished with life, or if something was extremely wrong when they died, their spirit would still roam the earth, haunting everybody who disturbed their resting place.) I paused. (We have hundreds of ghost stories. I guess it's because we wonder what is beyond life.)

(We do too.) Then we both fell silent. I felt uncomfortable. The bridge was eerily silent, and I shivered. I lumbered over to the nearest panel and saw a window-like projection of earth.

What were we going to do? The war was finally over, and what has been a large part of our life will soon be merely history. I laughed, thinking about the previous battles and random antics that made our Animorphs life both horrific and bearable. The Andalite toilet in Area 51, the Iskoort that were symbiotic Yeerks (we had saved them, despite their history). Even Marco's annoying jokes helped keep us sane during this long war.

What would we do after the war? Jake would probably do something in politics, or something were he can help thousands of people. Cassie will definitely keep on helping animals, perhaps opening a large clinic for sick and injured animals. Marco might end up doing stand-up comedy, performing for humans and Andalites alike. Ax will be some huge hero on his planet, revered as the destroyer of Visser One. Me? My future was hard for me to see. I definitely couldn't go back to my old life. There's just too much out there. Maybe my future will hold something important for me…and Tobias.

Musing, I almost missed Ax's warning. (Rachel! Ships approaching!)

What? (It's the Yeerks. They probably think we are the bona-fide Pool Ship.)

(No, it's not the Yeerks. Those are Andalite ships!)

I felt a swell of joy and rumbling explosion all at once. (We've been hit!)


	13. Cassie II

**Note:** It's been a while, but I'm back. Sorry for the wait, but writer's block comes totally unexpected, and I wasn't prepared at all. But I'm sure this will get me back on the road. You know the drill.

Elwing: _The Visser died? It was kind of sudden, and you should have made it a little more bloody and gross, because the Visser was bloody and gross in the years of his ugly life.  
Excellent chapter!  
And after James died, and now the Visser, who next? None of the Animorphs, I hope. Unless you want to make the story really sad._

I absolutely did NOT want the Visser to live. He is the ultimate villain and Ax needed to get his revenge. But I'm tryiong to avoid a terribly sad story.

SilverHawk27: _HIT? i like Rachels musings. she's cool, one of my favorite characters. u captured her personality well. this was an awsome chapter, UPDATE SOON!_

Yeah, hit. The Andalites have arrived. Great. I'm glad you liked Rachel's characteristic, because I thought that she wasn't war-like enough.

Early: _Yikes. So you decided to kill off Alloran. That's okay. I'm glad you didn't make a hoopla about it as if to say "Look! See! It IS different from the original."_

Nope, you were classy about it. James death too.

(nods appreciatively) What I don't like is the cliff-hangers, Plot-twist Cliffhangerson!

I want the rest of my story! (which isn't really mine but yours, which isn't really yours but KA Applegate's, which isn't really KA's but her Ghostwriters, which really doesn't belong to them but scholastic.)

(shakes head) Fanfiction. So hard to take pride of, because legally it doesn't exist.

True that. But really, it IS different! See? SEE? No, I'm just kidding. But, no matter what you say, I will never stop the cliffhangers. NEVER! I AM PLOT-TWIST CLIFFHANGERSON!

Shadow: _Nice story. You haven't tried to fix everything, yet in someway everything has indeed been fixed. Keep going. _

Wow. Really? That's insightful. I never thought about it that way.

LilManiac: _Well, i lyked that... dawem, was it? Very cool...  
THE VISSER'S HEAD GOES-A-ROLLIN! YAY!  
BYE BYE VISSER!  
Sorry, high on... something or other...  
What next?  
MORE PLEASE!_

You misspelled "liked". But, besides that, thank you for your review. It's scary, isn't it? Andalites believe in ghosts. Now Ax will forever be haunted by James. Or will he?

Tiamath: _To slightly misquote the movie Chicken Run, "Bloody Andilites, always turning up late for every war..." (sigh) Things are never as easy for the Animorphs, are they? Great chapter, although I wish it could have been just a little longer...;)_

"But I don't want to be a pie!" I love that movie! But yeah, those Andalite rascals. When will they ever learn?

LittleMidgett: _is speechless  
And you know...that's a very rare occurance.  
Seemed a bit rushed...but I ain't complainin! It was excellent!  
Beyond excellent!  
AH!  
I'm still speechless...  
Oh...Andalites...AH! RUN!  
Sorry...I'm speechless AND in a weird mood...  
But...you shall continue! BEECAUSE I said you had to.  
So...continue!  
Come on! What are ya waitin for!_

If this is you speechless, I'd hate to see you hyper or talkative. But thank you for this special and…erratic review.

**Cassie**

(Just hold in there, Toby. Hold on. Help is on the way.) We weren't actually sure of that. We had called the bridge for medical supplies, but we didn't get a response.

Toby coughed, spraying blood across my mangled fur. I was revolted when I saw her lungs spasm through the deep gash in her chest. In the last minutes of the fight, Toby took on a Blue Band by herself and won. But if she didn't get help soon, she would die.

(You! Do any of you Yeerks know how to treat this wound?) None of the prisoners said anything as I demorphed. "Fine, I'll do it myself." I kneeled by Toby and tried to put pressure on the wound. Then I was violently thrown to the ground.

(What was that?) Marco knuckle-walked over to me. (Toby? You don't look so good.)

"She needs medical attention. Quickly." I looked at Jake, who had just returned from the Yeerk Pool. "Jake, what was that noise?"

He sounded shaken. (Ax called from the bridge. He said that the Andalites shot us. He told me that he has convinced them to board and see for themselves that we are not Yeerks.)

Marco held up a furry paw. (The Andalites are here?) Jake nodded his tiger head. Marco snorted. (Nice timing.)

Jake continued, (They are coming on board any second now. Cassie, get two Hork-Bajir warriors to take Toby up to the bridge with us. Once the Andalites board, we will send Toby to their doctors. Marco, Tobias, you guys come up with us too. Any questions?) There weren't. (Alright, auxiliary Animorphs and the rest of the free Hork-Bajir watch the Controllers. Everybody else, follow me.)

We plodded to the bridge, looking like a circus on a mission. A tiger, gorilla, hawk, wolf, and three goblin-like aliens. We heard a swish from far away, then several dozen hoof clops faintly echoed down the empty corridor.

(It sounds like they have arrived. Cassie, stay here with us.) He didn't want me to stay with Toby. That was okay. She should be fine.

(Everybody else, let me and Ax do the talking. We can probably speed up the process that way.)

The bridge suddenly appeared before us as we turned a corner. I almost ran into an Andalite guarding the door. (Who are you?) He knew that Yeerks couldn't morph, so he wasn't too worried. As in his tail relaxed about one millimeter.

Jake said to let him do the talking, but I was mad. Two people I considered friends, Jara Hamee and James, had died in the past twenty four hours, and another might yet pass on if we didn't hurry.

(The people who saved your asses, that's who!) Marco snickered, and Jake's jaw, his tiger jaw, actually dropped. I haven't used profanity before, but Toby just couldn't die. I won't allow it.

We shouldered past the guard, who was standing stock still, completely shocked. I guess not too many wolfs cuss him out. We bolted inside as Tobias whispered to me, (Toby will be fine. We won't let her go.) I silently nodded.

Andalites were every where. There must have been three dozen of them, and only a few warriors noticed us. All they did to acknowledge us was keep an eye on us constantly and edge their hand toward a Shredder.

(Hey! This Hork-Bajir needs medical attention, now!) Now everybody was looking at us. Jake took over. (She is the leader of the free Hork-Bajir on this ship and needs help. We also need to talk to your leader.)

Marco looked at Jake innocently. (I think the line is, "Take me to your leader.")

Hurriedly Toby was whisked away. Apparently, the Andalites had a newfound respect for the Hork-Bajir. The last I saw of Toby was her waking up from unconsciousness. Her body started spasming violently and she spit up tons of blood.

(Toby! NOO!) Toby couldn't die! No, no, no. Toby, just hang in there. I tried to tell myself that everything would work out okay, but I had a sinking feeling in my stomach.

I didn't even notice a large Andalite walk up to us. (Who are you?) Marco slowly looked at me and grinned. I didn't respond. The only thing on my mind was making sure I didn't lose another friend.

Jake said, (I am Jake Berenson. Leader of Earth's resistance. Who are you?)

The Andalite just glared at him, like he was annoyed at being questioned by a lowly species. (I am Captain-Prince Asculan-Semitur-Langor.)

Ax turned a shade or two paler. I'm guessing this was some big-shot. Jake started to demorph. (Well, Captain-Prince Asculan, welcome aboard the Yeerk Pool Ship. We will be happy to turn it over to you after we work out a few terms of negotiations.)

Asculan started laughing. The other Andalites had smug looks about them. (Little human, I fail to see what we have to negotiate.)

Jake, now fully human, smiled sweetly. "Look Asculan, how long have you guys been fighting this war? Almost forty years now? And how many species have you saved? One if you count the Leerans. Oh, wait, _we_ saved them. How many years have we been fighting? Barely three? And not only did we save the Leerans and our own race recently, but we also started a colony of free Hork-Bajir, whereas you guys just felt the need to kill 'em all. And what about Visser One? The Abomination? _We _killed him as well." Jake then pointed at Earth on a display panel. "You see that planet, Asculan? Earth. Home of six billion capable hosts for the Yeerks. Enough for them to fight a hundred wars and win them all." Then he jabbed his finger in Asculan's ugly face, who was shaking with rage. "I don't see why you are any better than us. We just saved your butts, and you are not going to push arrogantly aside."

We all turned to the source of a muffled clapping. Marco, with a wide grin on his gorilla mug, was slapping his beefy palms together. If anything this just made Asculan angrier.

(Alright, human, you made your point. However, I -)

(However what?) Jake interrupted. (The point is, Asculan, that we don't owe you anything. However you want to slice it, the humans came and saved the Andalites in the Andalite-Yeerk war.)

"You tell him, Jake." Everybody turned to the breach between the Andalite bridge and our's. I almost fainted with relief. Toby just grinned.


	14. Marco III

**Note:** Hey, sorry for taking so long. I don't very much like the peacetime, but I have to finish the story. Two announcements: I am working on a story that involves the Animorphs, the Andalites, the Yeerks, and a secret government brotherhood that will explain a government conspiracy so wild and crazy the effects will shatter society for decades. The second announcement is that marching band season is approaching, and this summer I am off to band camp! Which sucks! This may or may not affect my stories and/or tracking of stories. Lo siento. Ahora, las respuestas a sus repasos.

Elwing: _I read your review responses. As for LilManiac misspelling the word "liked", well, that's just how she spells it. I've seen the same mistake over and over in her other reviews._

By the way, in this May, it will be four years since the end of the Animorphs book series. (The 54th book came out in May 2001). The series began in the summer of 1996, nine whole years ago. And there's going to be an Animorph marathon to celebrate this in which participants read all of their Animorph books the have during May. I think I'll participate. I found out about this on and just thought that I should spread the word.

Happy Animorph-versary.

Whoooo-eee! Happy Animorph-versary to you too. The fifth of May is Cinco de Mayo, yet another reason to love May.

rockergurl13: _hey, siverhawk27 here. logged in and changed my name. good chapter. i liked Jakes speech and Toby at the end was classic. UPDATE SOON!_

Hey, you thought the Toby ending was classic? Cool.

animorph19: _wow. cassie's outburst and jake's little speech at the end was awsome!_

Hehe. I thought Jake deserved to tell Asculan off. And Cassie, she needed to release her pressure and once again, Andalites are the perfect outlet.

LucreziaNoin86: _Yay! she's alive! I'm so happy. I love the way you're having the Animorphs stand up to the Andelites, that is like totally awesome. Oh and if Rachel and Tobias don't get together. I may have to stop reading. But I might not. Just let them be happy please!_

Toby's alive; the Animorphs are telling the Andalites what's what; and yes, Rachel and Tobias are getting together. Somehow.

LilManiac: _YEAH! WO-O-O-OHO-O-O-O!  
YEEHAW!  
BRILLANT!  
I'M HIGH ON CHOCOLATE! YEAH!  
YOU TELL EM CASSIE! TELL EM JAKE!  
YEHEEAA!WONDERFUL! MOTERVATIONAL!  
Oh, and by da way, i meant to spell liked, like... LYKED!  
ITS HOW I WRITE IT WHEN I'M INSANE!  
WHICH IS ALL THE TIME WHEN I'M ON CHOCOLATE! WHE-E-E!_

Thank you, thank you. I did not know you spelled liked that way. My bad. But I didn't know people could get high on chocolate. I'll have to try that.

Tiamath: _(cheers silently from the sideline) Go Jake:D  
Great chapter. You've captured the innate pompousness of the andilite military commanders perfectly. It's a real treat when Jake reams him out._

Cool. My model for pompous Andalites is always those snooty jerks at school. School is just one big character pool.

LittleMidgett: _Wo!  
Go Jake! You tell that nasty bug on stick who's who round here!  
YEAH!  
You do not wanna see me hyper...it's dangerous.  
Anyway!  
Excellent chapter!  
Glad Toby is okay! YES!_

Toby will always be okay. It's you we're worried about.

**Marco**

Things moved quickly after the Andalites boarded.

Jake told their leader off, and now they have been a little bit nicer to us. Or maybe Ax told them about our secret weapon, the cinnamon roll. That would have made them more cooperative as well.

Especially that Asculan guy. When he came onboard, he was all high and mighty, unable to look us in the eyes. But now he was helping the Animorphs and Hork-Bajir finish cleaning up the remaining Yeerks.

Asculan sauntered over to Ax and raised his tail blade. Ax returned the salute.

(Young _aristh_, you have been fighting in this war for longer than most of us. You cannot be an _aristh_ any longer. Aximili, you are now a Warrior. I will petition the War Council to make you a prince.)

Ax nearly fainted. He was shaking badly and barely managed to utter a reply. I grinned.

"Ax is a warrior? Alright." We were all grinning madly. We were happy for him. Proud of him. He is, and will always be, our friend. But I wonder where he will go after this?

I had no time to dwell on that thought, though. Asculan was bringing us around the moon to face the Yeerk fleet. I prepared for my first and probably last space battle.

Seemingly out of nowhere the ships started appearing. Dozens, hundreds of Bug fighters. One, two, five Blade Ships. Two more Pool Ships. It was a sight that made me gulp and want to turn slowly away. But I was mesmerized, as were everybody else.

Just as the Andalite ships started to shoot at the enemy fleet, we were hailed by both Pool Ships.

"The Yeerk Ships _Matar_ and _Esclavizar_ ask for protection and are willing to surrender to the humans for total security from the Andalites and freedom to return to the home planet."

It is safe to say that those who had jaws dropped them. Asculan immediately called for a halt and ordered a standby. He turned to us. (What do you think, human?)

Jake peered over Asculan's shoulder. The Yeerks were separating their engines and weapons. "I say we go for it."

Asculan said something to his advisors, who answered him in kind. He turned to the helm and sighed. (Okay, Yeerks, consider yourselves prisoners of the Andalites.)

The Hork-Bajir on the screen sat up. "No! We will surrender only to the humans."

(Fine. We will board soon. Deactivate all handheld weapons and release your hosts.)

The Yeerk nodded resignedly. The image blanked out to a dull blue color, and everyone let out a sigh of relief. Asculan turned back to Jake. (They are your problem now. We will send over some pilots to help you take them to the surface. Please prepare to reenter the atmosphere.)

-

The clouds flashed by, and I could suddenly see buildings and cars. The Pool Ship slowed down, and turned slowly above the Mall in Washington. Thousands of reporters were there already, cameras flashing and people yelling. The other two Pool Ships, as well as the rest of the Yeerk fleet stayed in the air, hovering two hundred feet above the excited crowd.

"All this for us? And I forgot my makeup." Jake laughed, then shot me a solemn glance. The war was finally over, the Earth was celebrating, and I looked around the bridge as the Pool Ship touched down. All of the Animorphs, minus James, and six Hork-Bajir were lined up to get off and explain the past four years.

Toby saw my look and winked. I laughed and prepared a witty comment, but Rachel's icy laser-like death stare kept me quiet. Then, abruptly, the doors opened.


	15. Tobias III

It's time for the fifteenth installment of this here story. Before we go on, let me tell you to read my new Animorph fic, Pants On Fire. I hope that you will check it out and like it.

LittleMidgett: _You worry about me?  
How sweet. I feel special...special ed maybe...  
Anyway!  
Interesting chapter...whoopah! it's over! maybe..dunno...ah!  
Excellent...excellent...superb...dunno if thats how ya spell it, we'll just sy it is...YAY!_

The war is over, indeed. Now we enter the story of the aftermath. What will be different? Read to find out.

Edriss: _YES! Great chapter! Woo-hoo! I feel bad about not reviewing your fics earlier on, their really great. I'll most definatly be reviewing more often._

Hangs head in shame I was re-reading Book 54 when I realised that for the past 13 chapters of my fic I've been spelling Asculan wrong. Ops.

Please keep this up as it is really great! 

I sure hope you review more often. I really like your story about Asculan. I noticed as well your misspelling, but I decided to not say anything. Sorry.

LucreziaNoin86: _Oh man this is so cool. Your reply has made me very, very happy and I'm looking forward to next chapter_

Cool. I have planned out what happens to Tobias and Loren, and I hope you will like it.

LilManiac: _yes.. it IS possible to be high on chocolate...  
COOLIES! BYE!_

Thank you.

rockergurl13: _r u gonna continue? i hope so, UPDATE SOON!_

I sure am. And I plan to update soon.

**Tobias**

"Tell us a little about your book, Tobias," David Letterman said. I snapped my head towards him, then back to the audience. I was trying to stop my bird-like actions. I really am. It's just so common to me that just because I'm a _nothlit_ now doesn't mean it will stop.

I snuck a glance at Rachel, who was standing with her arms crossed just outside the stage. She flipped her hair and smiled at me. I focused on the camera.

"Well, it starts with a brief summary of my life before the war. You know, from when I could remember going to kindergarten to the bullies at the school. Things like that make up the first chapter." I reflected that my whole childhood, from when I was born to junior high school, is just a small prologue in a thick book. The majority of my life, experience, and knowledge was contained in the four years of conflict, from the age of thirteen to sixteen.

"And?"

I snapped back to reality. "It continues with the first time I met my real father, an Andalite by the name Elfangor. From then on, the next thirty-two chapters tell of our war, from the good times to the bad times."

"So, what do you think is the funniest thing in your book?"

I thought about it, then smiled. "Most definitely the time we found out that Yeerks were highly allergic to oatmeal. Not just any oatmeal, but instant maple oatmeal."

"Not exactly part of your daily breakfast needs." The one guy that always wears sunglasses started cracking up, and I forced a smile. I am just not used to being in the spotlight. Usually Marco or Jake do these kind of shows and the people just love them. With Jakes recent marriage to Cassie and my permanent choice to stay human our popularity hasn't slowed down, not even after two years. People see us as little less than gods.

"But really, I've read this book and it's great. About your final chapter, where you delve into your choice to become human permanently, why did you choose to do that? When did you decide to change your life forever?"

I grinned wide, seeing an opening. "Well, it has much to do with Rachel. Why don't you step out here, Rachel."

Even though Rachel is stunningly beautiful and has had thousands of modeling and acting and publicity job offerings, she surprisingly has shied away from the attention. She stared at me as if she might morph grizzly and rip my head off, then slowly and gracefully stepped into sight as the cameras trained on her.

She flashed a smile, sat next to me on the couch, and muttered something about me and toast. I smiled again and sub-consciously felt the lump on the inside pocket of my suit coat.

"As I was saying, I decided to stay human because of Rachel. Rachel," I began, suddenly shifting to the floor on one knee, "will you marry me?"

Everybody stopped breathing. Despite my calm appearance I was sweating like a racehorse after the Kentucky Derby as I pulled the diamond ring from my coat. Rachel just stared at me like I was crazy, but written in her eyes was the answer I so desperately wanted, needed.

"Yes."

Soon the audience, as if they had one mind, stood up and clapped and yelled and cried. Letterman wiped a tear away and congratulated me and Rachel. The Bald-  
Sunglasses-Man tilted his head to the side and said "Aww."

I wrapped up the interview with Letterman soon after and me and Rachel headed to the parking lot. "Do you need a ride home?"

She smiled. "We could go to your place." I laughed. Ever since I became a _nothlit_ for the last time I had been living with Rachel.

That was when I noticed a women walking towards us. She was weaving back and forth, as if she didn't know exactly where she was going. She stopped ten feet from us and I noticed that she was wearing sunglasses. At night.

Then it clicked. She was blind. "Ma'am, can we help you?"

Her head turned toward the sound of my voice. That's when I noticed the long scars on her head. "If you can lead me to Tobias the Animorph."

"That would be me."

She froze. Then, oddly, she started crying. I went to her side. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, Tobias, you never knew what happened to your mother. I feel so terrible. Can you ever forgive me?"

That made my heart stop. I was at a lost for words. My mother? I had known my father for a few minutes and I hadn't the slightest memory of my mother. Could this possibly be her?

Luckily Rachel was there. "Your Tobias's mom? How did you know where to find him?"

And so began the story of a desperate woman needing to find her only relative that might, just might, love her.

"It all started back when I was in a serious car crash which blinded me and caused amnesia. When they started reeducating me I was informed that I had a son who was living with his aunt and uncle. That's when I realized that I was no good to you blind. I couldn't teach the facts of life and how to be a good person if I was just learning that myself." She wiped away a tear as Rachel held the back door to our car for her. After we piled in Rachel drove slowly to her house as my mother continued her story.

"When the war ended and I heard about the Animorphs over the radio, I dismissed your name as pure coincidence. The thought of you being my child crossed my mind only once. When they described the Andalites over the radio it triggered a long-forgotten memory. But I shook it off. It wasn't until they described what you looked like after you became a human that I became certain that you were my son. So I tried to contact you several times, but I failed. Then I came here."

Rachel turned and looked at us. "We're here."

"Mo-…Loren, why don't you stay the night here. We can talk this over in the morning."

She sniffled then nodded. I opened the door for her and she felt her way in. Rachel followed her, and I stared at the two as the went upstairs to prepare our guest room.

A fiancée and a mother, all in one night? This is the happiest day of my life.


	16. Jake III

**Note:** I'm back!

ss4rycol: _as i said before, one of the best, and it continues to be so._

One of the best? Thank you.

rockergurl13: _this was sweet, can't wait 4 more. oh, she still doesn't remember Elfangor right?_

Well, thank you. Nope, no Elfangor. A pity, really.

Elwing: _It's nice to see Tobias happy. And about the proposal? It seemed a little sudden. But a good chapter nevertheless._

By the way, I have checked out Pants on Fire, your latest fic, and I have reviewed for it. It is very decent, so update on it. Will you make places for review responses on that fic like you do here?

And, er, uh, did you forget to respond to my review for the last chapter?

Anyway, I noticed, that Loren isn't addressed as Mother. So Tobias still feels a little tension and uncertainty?

The proposal seemed sudden because I neglected to write about how their relationship had developed and grown through the years. There is still a little uneasiness for Tobias. Sorry about the review!

LucreziaNoin86: _Girly squeal That was wonderful!. Bounces around living room where computer is located. YAY! Thank You!_

Well, thank you. I trust that the girly squeal was perfectly appropriate at the time and you enjoyed the activity very much, as was the aforementioned bouncing. Hmm, it IS pretty easy to talk like Ax, isn't it?

Ty: _Yay! Happy endings for everyone!_

I believe you have spoken too soon. Sorry.

Early: _At first I thought this chapter was far too rapid, but the last line about a fiancee and Mother in one night tied it all up neatly. Sometimes you NEED those dramatic one-liners I suppose._

This is not a memorable chapter, but it's well composed and I guess EVERY chapter can't be the pivotal one. So... do we get to see the honeymoon, eh? Aw, come on! Give us all a little taste of the R/T action.

And BTW: Letterman sucks. Although he's the only late-night personality that KA ever mentions. I mean, why can't the Animorphs ever be on Conan? What he's not good enough! (pants from the rage-wave)

You know what? I love dramatic one-liners. As long as they are appropriate, of course. You have struck a Late-Night nerve. I love Conan! I watched Letterman once or twice but never really enjoyed it. Conan on the other hand, his show is very funny. I can even do the wire dance, the one where he cuts it and slumps forward. Classic. Just classic.

LilManiac: _(stares) wow... cool!  
i love how you've written this chapter! so sweet... so... so...  
Well, im speechless.  
And everyone who knows me... well, ask Midgett...  
yawoza!_

Really? Speechless? Then I have done my good deed for the day.

Edriss: _Again a really great chap. I feel so stupid if someone proposed to me on live TV. Please this was great keep it up._

That would be embarrassing indeed. I notice that you have over a hundred reviews on your story now. Congratulations!

**Jake**

"This is Alpha Two-Two-Seven, unidentified aircraft please identify."

Complete radio silence. I glanced at the radar, confirming that the target was still nearby. Gently I eased the controls down to come at the same altitude as the other aircraft. When I was low enough, I upped the speed to just past Mach 1 and pulled alongside the other aircraft. It looked vaguely familiar. I looked at the other pilot and repeated the command.

TSSEEEWW!

"I've been hit! Uhh…Alpha Two-Two-Seven…is ejecting." I pushed the right button, but felt nothing. At the same time, the video projections on the simulator cockpit disappeared, revealing a short, aging man with thick glasses and a cane.

"You failed."

I sighed and removed the helmet. I didn't look forward to Mr. Cran's scolding. A tough old man, expert in Modern-age Aviation Technology and Tactics, he ran the training facility on an unnamed island off the coast of North Carolina.

I can still remember the first time I met him, shortly after Rachel's and Tobias's wedding almost two years ago. I walked in late with my shirt untucked and face unshaven. He had briskly stepped to me and thanked for saving the world. Yeah, those were his words. Then he hit my left shin with his cane. After I yelped, he warned me never to come late again. Then he hit the other leg for looking sloppy at work.

"I'm sorry, but…"

"No buts!" He peered at the other pilots and workers, then slowly turned his head back to me. He took two steps, until his five feet and three inches was nearly under my chin. "Never make excuses. Admit your failure, accept your losses, and start thinking about what you can improve." Mr. Cran then clicked his cane against the simulator and turned away. "Words to live by, kid."

I followed him down the hallway between the simulator room and the main lobby. "Alright, I admit that I should have exercised more caution. I accept that I need to spend twenty more hours in the simulator. So next time that situation arises, I will contact base before I approach a potentially hostile aircraft."

He stopped next to the front desk and stared at me. Then he smiled. "Like hell you will." He laughed and punched my card out. "See you tomorrow, kid."

"Goodbye, Mr. Cran." I left the cool lobby into the steaming hot forest that is Carolina, starting my half mile walk to the airport. Twelve sweaty minutes later I reached the bus service, where a welcoming committee was gathered. After the usual security business a man in an expensive suit strided to me and extended his hand. It was shaking a little, so I decided to break the ice. Grabbing him in a great bear hug, I told him that it is the Animorph custom.

"That's how we always greet friends. You are a friend, right?" Rapidly assuring me that he was indeed friendly he quickly and nervously opened his briefcase. Inside were several charts and graphs.

"As you can see Mr. Berenson, the…"

A security guard cut in. "Sir, you'll have to come with us."

The man agreed, and went to gather his things. When I realized that there was nothing more I turned to get on the bus. I was almost aboard when a guard tackled me and, nearly the same moment, I heard a gunshot.

The pain! Floods of memories came back to me as the man ran into the jungle yelling something about evil aliens. A Hork-Bajir, claw marks oozing blood. A Taxxons screech, a tiger's roar. Visser One, monologueing. Rachel yelling, Ax whipping his tail, Cassie weeping, Marco wisecracking, Tobias apologizing. A tiger commanding a circus. A tiger, leaping off the back of the first Visser One. A tiger, a tiger.

A tiger. And then the world went blank.

-

When I woke up it was night. The sky was clear and I could see miles in any direction, but my nose told me that it was night. I immediately jumped to my hands. Hands? No, no, paws. I could see whiskers and a snout in my vision. I had unconsciously morphed a tiger.

I turned to a guard. (How long have I been out.)

"Just a few minutes, sir. Do you need help?"

(I'll be fine.) With that I leapt to the suited mans briefcase, which he had left behind. I bent down to sniff it. When I looked up, there was a bright neon yellow path leading into the forest. (Bingo.)

Pat-pat. Pat-pat. As I bounded through the underbrush I let the tiger take command. I let the hunter do what he is good at. Tree after tree, fern after fern, I quickly closed the gap. Soon I heard heavy breathing. I slowed down and pushed past a thicket of flowers. There walked the man who shot me. Then he stumbled.

The tiger subconsciously tensed. _Weak. Food. Kill._ I shook away the tiger's instincts. I coiled my leg muscles and leapt! Soaring through the air, I knocked the crazy guy over and swatted away his gun. I did a small pounce and landed on his chest, pinning him down.

I tried to think of something not cheesy to say. Instead the guy just passed out. I did a little tiger shrug and began to drag him back to base.

Arriving minutes later, I noticed a police car and an ambulance waiting. But it wasn't until after I demorphed that I noticed the Andalite fighter in a nearby hangar.

Before I could ask any questions, two Andalites galloped to my side and motioned for us to walk and talk.

(I am Prince Caysath-Winwall-Esgarrouth, and this F. O. Menderash-Postill-Fastill of the _Hunter_.)

"The _Hunter_? Isn't that-"

(Indeed sir. I served under Captain-Prince Aximili on our Dome Ship.)

"Served? As in, past tense?"

The Andalites fidgeted. (Yes. I…we…don't know where the Captain-Prince is. He's missing. I am the only survivor of the tragedy of the A.D.S. _Hunter_.)


	17. Rachel III

CASSIE101: _Oh! My! God! so good! continue!_

Well, thank you. I was thinking about quitting, retiring to the Bahamas and a life of shaken martinis and island girls, but, what the heck, I'll finish this first.

Quillian: _I really like this story. Sorry, but I can't say much more than that. :)_

Normally, I would demand a much longer review, but that smiley eased my troubled mind. And apologies for past, present, and future sarcasm. It runs in my blood.

rockergurl13: _i KNEW you wouldn't dissapoint me! most people forget about that thing, YOU ROCK! well, i loved this chapter, that Cran guy sounds like the meaner version of Yoda, good, i LOVE Yoda. this is AWSOME update ASAP!_

Most people forget about what thing? Elfangor? I rock? Um, I mean, uh, of course...of course I rock! Yeah. And I was aiming for the "angry-at-kids-in-his-driveway-but-still-kind-to-others-and-still-wise-in-the-way-of-the-world" kind of guy, but Pissed Yoda works, too.

Elwing: _You've taken a while to update. Were you out of ideas? Anyway, good chapter. But the name of the ship sets a kind of premonition for me._

Anyway, like I said, good chapter! Hope to see the next one soon!

Yes, ungodly short of ideas! And I have been distracted by certain...things. (Hint: They're everywhere and have an abnormal obsession with shoes.) And who says band girls aren't attractive? But anyways, I wanted the name to be more aggressive. I don't know why.

LucreziaNoin86: _Oh no! Let him be ok, let him be ok._

Not much to say to that. Cross your fingers and thanks for the review.

Edriss: _Well, this chapter too was interesting. Are you in some weird way following the Animorphs time line? You know, like Ax getting kidnapped by the One?_

Wich, I don't know if you've ever watched Star Trek, sounds a lot like the Borg crossed with a ticked off Q.

This was a really great chapter. Please update soon.

AHHHHHH! You've figured it out! I mean, nice guess, but maybe not? Hence the title. But I've never seen Star Trek. All I know about that subject is William Shatner, "Set your phasers to stun/kill", and "Beam me up, Scotty".

LilManiac: _glad youre back!  
this is cool! Jake is back in the game!  
loved the tiger bit. the instincts bit.  
and the name of Ax's ship... the hunter... :)_

Yes. I'm back, Jake is back, the tiger is back, Ax is – well, we will see about that.

**Rachel**

"THE ACTION."

I rolled my eyes.

"THE ROMANCE."

Marco jumped up on a hay bale, with a brush clasped in his hands. He was speaking into it like that movie announcer. The one that speaks in all the previews with a deep, dark voice.

We were in Cassie's barn. Yep, that one. The one that is now considered all but a shrine. After The End, as the dénouement of the war is called, Cassie offered to use her new fortune to reconstruct the barn into a huge new building, and renovate it with new equipment and a permanent staff to help her dad. But the National Historical Landmarks Society pounced on it, and it is now considered a greater attraction than Disney World, Vegas, and Hollywood combined.

So instead, Jake and Cassie bought her dad a huge five story building three miles to the east, with over twelve hundred employees, and the barn was closed to visitors today, because Jake had called a meeting. Just like old times.

"THE DRAMA." Too much like old times.

"You realize, of course, that Cassie probably scrubbed horse dung with that thing," Tobias pointed out. Cassie giggled as Marco dropped the brush as if it were aflame and possessed by the devil.

Marco smoothed back his hair and changed the subject. "Where's the fearless leader, Cassie? He said the meeting was at two and it is now," he glanced at his brand new Rolex watch, "one fifty-four."

Alright, so when we heard about the meeting we all arrived half an hour early, absurdly excited. Tobias raced from some news studio, I came from a shopping center, Cassie walked the three miles from the new Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, and Marco came from some celebrity's house. Jake, however, was nowhere to be seen.

Tobias shifted uncomfortably and glanced at the rafters. "He should be here any minute."

It took seven before he slowly walked in the wide doors, head down and a solemn look. "Thanks for coming, guys," he greeted us. Marco looked at his longtime friend and cheerfully waved. "About time. You are late."

Jake rolled his eyes, and kept them rolling to his watch. "One minute. Just one minute late." His brief smile vanished, and we all sensed something bad. He glanced at the ground, then to Cassie, and looked up at the rest of us. "I won't drag this out. Ax is missing."

Nobody said anything. I think everybody was too stunned to reply. Ax? He couldn't just be gone.

Tobias was the first to speak up. "We'll go look for him," he blurted, and we all voiced agreements.

Jake shot us down quickly. "No."

It was said so powerfully, but also quietly, that Cassie and I became silent. Marco did not relent, however. "Hey, Mr. Big Man, if we want to risk our prosperous and valuable lives to save that flea-bitten Andalite, then we will. No matter what you say." He crossed his arms and Tobias continued where Marco left off.

"I can tell you want to protect us, but Ax is our friend, and my uncle, so I am definitely going and I'm sure they want to go, too." I started to agree, but Jake cut me off. He launched into some defining speech and I began to realize that I had become soft. I wanted to help Ax, but I was also averse to fighting again. Plus, Jake had cut me off twice! Twice! Since when did I let that happen?

"Hey!" I yelled. Jake closed his mouth and looked at me, irritated. "Listen to me, you self-righteous punk, we're a team, so we get to vote, right? Who wants to go?" Jake tried again to get a word in edgewise, but I wouldn't allow it. "No, you dull-witted jock, I am not going to listen to you. You had your chance, but now it's a vote. Who's going?"

Everybody raised their hands. I turned on Jake. "See? Democracy does win in the end." He glanced at the smirk on Tobias's face, Cassie's satisfied smile, Marco sticking his tongue out. He sighed.

"I'm going alone." Without another word, he left.

-

Jake sure does like to yell.

"Why, why, WHY can't you guys listen to me? In the war, sure, I could snap out orders, but now I tell you something and you pretend like I'm a bloody ghost!"

Tobias looked at our leader strangely. "You realize you sound British."

Marco tut-tutted. "Irish, man, can't you recognize Irish Rage when you see it? But where's the Love?"

I smiled. We were on the _Soufflé_, a large Andalite ship with two crew members and another Andalite by the name of Menderash. We were deep in space when forced to demorph, lest we be fleas roaming Jake's head forever. We had demorphed in front of three amused Andalites and one pissed off human.

"Menderash, take us back to Earth. We have some unwanted cargo."

I was ready to punch him. Why couldn't we go? Instead I walked to the navigations controls and pushed away one of the crew members. He whipped his tail to my throat. I could feel the smooth blade as I laughed. "Go ahead, behead me. Then head back to your High Command, or War Council, or whatever and explain why you killed an Animorph." I focused my eyes on his until he blinked rapidly. "All I'm here to do is help rescue Ax."

Jake started to give another command but Marco chimed in. "I figured this would be a mostly silent trip, so I brought some music. Weird Al, anyone?"


	18. Jake Finale

Quillian: _Another cool chapter! (I find this alt. ending story to be very worthwhile in reading... I'm currently writing a post-series fic myself. Please feel free to let me know whether or not you might be interested in reading it.)_

Well, thank you. I sure am interested, so please tell me where to find it. Thanks for your review.

LucreziaNoin86: _Yes weird al is a must.Good chapter._

Indeed he is. Thanks for reviewing.

rockergurl13: _lol, that's the animorphs for ya! this was a good chapter. what i meant was most people do an alternate ending and forget about Ax being missing, well UPDATE SOON!_

Thank you. And I don't think that people forget about Ax being lost in space, it's just that the "fix" it so he doesn't go missing in the first place.

CASSIE101: _Yay! You wrote more! But wait Ax is missing! sigh that is drama for you P Good chapter C:_

Yes, Ax is indeed missing. Alas, life must go on. The Animorphs will go on this final mission. Or will it be the final mission?

lilyofthevalley: _I like this. I guess now the story should start to take a more unique turn now. Liked humor in this chapter. update soon._

Yeah, I guess it should. Crap.

LilManiac: _good one!  
poor Jake... no one listened to him...  
OH WELL!  
and by da way, you're in my second crazy story... just so you know...  
called Holy shitaki! another crazy storay!  
whee! write more whenever! i can wait.. im a very patient person... most of the time... :D_

What? I am so honored! And sorry about the wait...band camp...but it's all cool, we are going to win state. HOO-RAH!

animorph19: _it's been a while since i've reviewed this, but now i'm caught up with the story and ready to review again!  
i just adore the Cran fellow...he's very amusing. hopefully there'll be more of him later (hint hint).  
cool, you did a shout out to yourself. "Irish, man, can't you recognize Irish Rage when you see it? But where's the Love?" nicely done :)_

No more Cran. Sorry. But I'm glad somebody caught that. Hehe, I'm so bloody mischevious.

deer10888: _hi, i absolutley love your story! PLEAZE update! The suspense is killing me! gr8 writing! but i hav a question(s) why did you switch from book to book, and why didn't jake want to find ax, and why did marco bring weird al_

Really? Cool. Not about the suspense killing you, belive you me when I say a dead reader writes no reviews, but about the loving the story. Hmm, I don't think I understand the first question. And it's not that Jake didn't want to look for Ax, he just wanted to go by himself. And why wouldn't Marco bring Weird Al?

voodooqueen126: _ i didn't much like the fact that you killed visser one's host-yuo should have waited for esplin to deinfest_

I know, it was a tough decision for me to make. But I felt that whatever could have happened with a free Alloran, did happen in the final book. I didn't want to ruin a perfectly good storyline. Poor Alloran.

So, I guys I believe this to be the final chapter. Alas, a short story, but I need to wrap this up and send the message I want to send. Yes, this story does have a message. There might be an epilogue...but first, The Final Countdown!

**Jake - The End**

"I LOVE ROCKY ROAD! GONNA BUY..."

"Marco, for the last time, shutup!" Rachel was obviously on her last nerve. Which only made him sing louder.

I smiled on the outside, but on the inside I thought he was going insane. Month after month after pointless month of traveling in empty space, looking for an individual with the chance of success less than finding a needlehead in a hay field. I thought I could actually feel my mind breaking down. As I looked at the gang, minus Ax, I could see no signs of similar symptoms in the others, but I have had more on my shoulders since Elfangor landed in that abandoned constuction site many years ago.

"Jake?" I jumped, surprised at the kind voice behind me. It was Cassie, a look of concern plastered on her face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just thinking of Ax," I lied. If I couldn't tell Cassie about my mental breakdown, then I must be slowly going insane. What was wrong with me?

Cassie stepped away, but the look on her face never diminished until Rachel asked her to help take Marco and physically throw him in his cabin. Marco yelped as he was bodily picked up and I could hear the girls' laughter until the bridge door closed. My head almost immediately collapsed into my hands. "What is wrong with me?"

(What?) My head snapped around to see Tobias perched on a control panel, looking like he had been interrupted during preening. My face turned a bright red.

"Nothing. Never mind. I didn't say anything." I turned back around to the controls. What _is_ wrong with me? I'm losing my mind!

(Yeah you are.) I swiveled around to see Tobias looking straight at me. (Now is not the time to lose it, Jake.)

"I...I said that aloud?"

(Yep.)

I might have just lost it there and have broken down in tears, if I had not sensed Tobias glance past me sharply. I whipped around, but everything seemed in order.

(What does that orange squiggle on the screen mean?) Tobias, as ever with his hawk eyes, had spotted the small blip at the bottom of the radar screen.

"It means trouble." I started jabbing away at the computer panel, bringing up the weapons and hailing screen. At the same time, I pulled the sound system microphone to my mouth. "Hey, you guys, get back up to the bridge quick."

Tobias flapped hard over to another seat and tapped his beak on the control panel, bringing up a large visual of the space around them. They were on the outer reaches of a nebula, the space around them mostly plain black with a few wisps of orange and green here and there. (Where are you...)

Rachel was the first to barge through the bridge door, followed closely by Cassie and Marco. "What's up, fearless leader?"

"We have on radar a Yeerk ship." That killed any cheerfulness.

Marco gulped, and laughed nervously. "Oh, c'mon, the whole universe is awash with old Yeerk crap."

Tobias piped up. (Uhh, we have visual confirmation. And they are hailing us. They...they call themselves Warriors of the One.)

Marco snorted. "Ooo, that's not too cheesy." He looked around. "Shouldn't someone wake Menderash and his buddies up?" Cassie shrugged and jogged to the cabin area.

I stared long and hard at the ship, an old Blade Ship, and felt something. Pushing all mental problems away, I focused harder, and it seemed as though an evil force exuded from that ship, much as Visser One had been.

(Linking communications.) Tobias, in human form to make it easier, still used his more comfortable form of communication.

A man's head popped up on the screen, middle-aged and half-bald. Needless to say, it surprised us all.

"Well, well, well, what have we got here? Are those the Animorphs?" He laughed, almost manaically.

"Who are you?"

The man shrugged, eyes closed, and leaned far back in his chair. "It's not important, but..." He opened his eyes, now a fiery red. "I am the One."

A chill went through my heart. Whatever this thing was, it's not human. It's face just exuded evil like a runner would exude sweat. But then, all uncertainties were cast aside as the face started to shift and melt. Shift into a much more familiar face.

Ax's face. Then a wide red mouth split open across the bottom of its face. It laughed. "Soon you will all be mine."

Oddly calm, I reached for the weapons console. Then I noticed that they were out of our range, but we were in theirs. and their shields had been enhanced.

A lose-lose situation. But I smile crossed my face. Everything was clear now. My mind was completly back to normal. No, it was better than normal. I was seeing the bright line from A to B, and then through the entire alphabet all the way to Z.

Marco stared at me, a look of horror on his face. "I don't like that smile."

I turned to Tobias, sitting at the main console. I had a plan.

"Full emergency power to the engines. Ram the Blade Ship."


End file.
